Trust
by Starring Piper
Summary: When something horrible happens to Piper, rather than supporting her, her sisters blame her. Now being revised. Rating for bad language, violence, and mention of rape. Now revised through chapter six.
1. Chapter 1

AN- So, I have decided to do a few revisions to this old story of mine

AN- So, I have decided to do a few revisions to this old story of mine. Nothing major, but there were definitely parts of the story that needed tuning up, and as I have too much writer's block to work on anything else, I thought it might be kinda fun. I'm not really sure if this version will turn out differently, I guess I'll find out as I go along.

So, if you are an old reader returning to revisit this story, and find that the first chapter has completely changed, this is why. I'll keep the old chapters of file just in case I decide to change it all back. So…yeah.

Things you should know if you are new to this story: It's slightly AU, and set after Cole has been turned into the source, but before he and Phoebe get married. Leo has been away for a month on Elder business, and is supposed to be gone for one more (this is pretty much where the AU part comes in). In the original version, Phoebe and Cole were married, and Piper was pregnant, but I've scratched that. Umm…I think that's pretty much about it, review to let me know if you have any questions. Hope people still like it!

No one belongs to me, they all belong to the WB, yada yada yada, you know the drill.

Phoebe Halliwell sat in silence in the car, wondering if the tension between her and Cole could possibly grow any more taunt. They were just returning—early—from a date, and things could not possibly have gone any more bizarrely. The first part had been wonderful—like they were a brand-new couple again, everything so sweet and magical—but then, about halfway into the evening, things soured. Cole seemed to retreat into a foul mood, snapping at everyone and everything, including her, until finally Phoebe had suggested that they just go home.

"So, are you going to tell me what exactly was going on today?" Phoebe asked, when they finally shut the door to their room in the manor.

Cole didn't answer, simply pulled off his shirt and tossed it down onto the bed. Phoebe glared at him. "Well?" she asked again.

"Oh, I don't know," Cole snapped finally, "Maybe I was sick of watching you flirt with that other guy."

Phoebe stared incredulously. "I was just dancing with him Cole," she told him. "For god's sake, you gave me permission! Hell, permission, you told me to while you went to the bathroom!"

"Oh?" he inquired icily. "Well, I don't seem to recall telling you to throw yourself at him! I had to pull you two apart when I got back!"

"Yeah, which I thanked you for, in case you don't remember, because he was being an asshole and wouldn't let go of me! Jesus, Cole, how much respect do you have for me?"

"Not much, if you're going to go screwing around with guys behind my back! There was obviously something else going on between you two!"

Phoebe stared at him, stung. Picking up his shirt from off of her bed, she flung it at him. Sure, things had been a little rocky lately, but Phoebe had never expected that he could actually accuse her of cheating on him.

The shirt fell short, landing in a pile a little ways away from his feet. "Get out!" she spat at him. "I don't want to see you anymore! Get out, get out, get out!"

Cole grabbed his shirt off the floor and yanked it back over his head as he stalked toward the door.

"And why don't you go screw the world while you're at it!" Phoebe screamed at his retreating back. "Since you're obviously looking for an excuse to do just that!"

Cole slammed the door behind him. Hearing his heavy, angry steps stamp down the stairs; Phoebe fell onto her bed sobbing.

A few minutes later, Paige tiptoed into the room, looking worriedly at her sister.

"Phoebes?" she asked quietly, "are you ok?"

Phoebe shook her head, unable to form any words, and Paige sat down on the bed next to her, cradling her in her arms and rocking her gently back in forth. "We had a really big fight," she whispered finally, burying her head in Paige's shoulder. "I don't know what's happening with us."

Paige soothingly stroked Phoebe's hair, calming her down. "Oh, sweetie," she said quietly. "Is there anything I can do?"

Phoebe sniffed, pulled away and wiped her eyes. Taking a moment to collect herself, she nodded. "Take me to the club?" she asked. "I don't really want to deal with this tonight. I just want to get completely, totally, horrendously, out of my mind drunk."

--

Once outside, Cole allowed himself to smile briefly at his victory, before flaming away into the darkness.

--

"Are you sh-sure that you can't come home with us now?" Phoebe asked Piper in a baby voice, unsteadily pouring herself another drink and glancing at her sister from across the bar at P3. Watching more of the alcohol hit the table than Phoebe's glass, Piper took the bottle away from her sister. Phoebe had definitely fulfilled her goal of getting drunk enough to forget Cole, and had reached the point of being officially smashed a while ago.

"I think you've had more than enough," Piper told her, placing it on the shelf behind her, then paused before resuming her cleaning of the counter. She was tempted—very tempted—to go along with Phoebe's suggestion. She felt as though she hadn't slept in years, and she didn't like leaving her baby sister when she was this upset. However, Paige was with Phoebe, who would probably collapse in bed as soon as she got home, and the amount of work Piper needed to get done before tomorrow was crazy, so Piper knew that she couldn't let herself slack off.

Sighing, she resumed wiping down the counter, "And yes, I do have to stay here to finish some stuff up. But I'll be okay. I just need to finish up some paper work, clean up and then I should be able to come home."

"You've been working really hard lately honey," Paige chimed in. "You need a break."

Piper smiled fondly at her sisters, musing over how much they all cared for each other. Hell, they would probably do her work for her if she asked nicely. That, however, would hardly be fair to them.

"I'll be fine. Look, I'll see you guys in the morning, okay? Don't bother waiting up for me. I probably won't be in until pretty late." Nodding reluctantly, Paige and Phoebe gave Piper a quick hug before getting up to go.

"I-I'm going to use the bathroom," Phoebe said, turning and heading away. Paige hung back for a moment, grabbing a spare cloth from under the counter and helping Piper wipe down the bar as she waited for Phoebe's return. Both sisters giggled at Phoebe's weaving walk, and snorted when she kept missing the door handle.

"That girl is not going to feel well tomorrow," Piper commented, and Paige chuckled her agreement.

"At least she has Chauffer Paige to drive her home," Paige commented, bowing her head down at Piper. Piper laughed, then sobered a little.

"I'm a little worried about her, actually. Cole's been acting sort of weird with her lately…hot one minute, then cold the next. And then that fight tonight... I wish she would talk to us about it."

"I wouldn't worry too much, if I were you. I'm sure she'll come to us when she's ready. I mean, I obviously don't know Phoebe as well as you do, but I think she's ok. This is one night, after all. She probably just needed to let off some steam. Couples fight. It's probably just pre-wedding jitters. I mean, not that I'm not ready to rip Cole apart for hurting her, but I really don't think she'd thank us for it. I'm sure they'll patch it up."

"You think I'm over reacting, huh?" Piper asked with a grimace. "You're probably right. I just can't shake the feeling that something's wrong. We don't even know what they fought about. It could be way worse than we think."

"I think it's just taking Cole awhile to really process the fact that he's lost his powers. He's not really sure where he stands in the family anymore, and maybe he's taking it out on Phoebe. I'm sure once he's more sure of himself again, things will go back to the way they were with them."

Piper smiled up at her. "That's pretty insightful of you, for someone who not that long ago didn't really like the guy."

Paige blushed. "It just took me awhile to get over his past, I guess. But he does seem genuinely good now, and you can tell he absolutely adores Phoebe, and, well, since they both care about each other so much, that's good enough for me."

They both watched as Phoebe returned from the bathroom, making her way over to them. She definitely looked a little green at the gills, and Paige and Piper winced sympathetically.

"You coming?" she asked Paige, placing a hand up to her head.

Paige nodded. "You start on up, I'll be right there. I just want to tell Piper one more thing."

Piper couldn't help but smile again watching Phoebe stumble a little on the stairs, it reminded her of when they were both teenagers and Phoebe would sneak in after curfew from whatever party she'd been at, trying--and usually failing--not to wake Grams or Prue. Piper used to take pity on her, waiting up for her and then helping her into her room and bed so she wouldn't be caught. Prue hadn't liked it when Piper did that, claiming that Phoebe would never learn if she weren't forced to take responsibility for her own actions, but Piper could never leave her little sister to the wrath of Grams and Prue. Besides, being the complete and utter geek she had been in high school, she supposed that in some ways, she had lived vicariously through Phoebe. She had come a long way since then in discovering herself now, though. They all had.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Piper was startled to find Paige looking at her pensively.

"What," she asked, amused, "do I have something on my face?"

Paige shook her head slightly, not smiling. "Come home soon, ok? And be careful. I don't know what's up, but I have a weird feeling about you for some reason."

Piper raised her eyebrows at her. "Not that I don't appreciate your concern and all, but Phoebe's the one who gets premonitions, not you. I'm sure you don't have anything to worry about."

Paige sighed, frustrated with her inability to pin down her feelings of trepidation. "I know, and I'm sure I'm wrong about this, but just…be careful, ok? Even if it feels silly."

Seeing that Paige really was concerned, Piper nodded. "I'll lock up behind you guys and drink plenty of coffee so I won't be caught unawares by a demon attack. Now go get going. I don't think Phoebe should be wandering around the parking lot by herself."

Paige nodded, and gave Piper another hug. "Try to get home in time to get some sleep, and I'll see you tomorrow. I love you!"

"Love you too! Piper said, and, as she promised, followed Paige by the door to lock it behind her. Sighing tiredly, she allowed herself to lean back against the wall for a moment of rest, before pushing herself back up to go begin her work.

--

It was well after three before Piper finally finished, and after having gotten up at 5:30 that morning to start the paperwork that she had just completed, she was exhausted. Gathering up her things and grabbing her keys from the counter, she was shocked to hear a voice behind her.

"Leaving a little late, aren't you?"

Piper jumped and spun around. Seeing who it was, she laughed at herself. "Jesus Cole, you scared the crap out of me. How did you get in? I could have sworn I locked all the doors…Paige would kill me if she knew I hadn't kept my promise. What are you doing here anyway? Phoebe left hours ago."

Piper knew that she was babbling, but was too tired to try and string together any sort of intelligent sentences. Plus, she was still a little jumpy—something about the look in Cole's eye scared her. _God, I hope he's not drunk too_, she thought. _The last thing they need right now is another confrontation._

"Actually," Cole said, surprising her, "I'm here to see you."

Piper looked at him, confused. "To me? What, do you want to talk about Phoebe? I don't really know what exactly happened between you guys, so I'm not sure that I would be the best person to-"

"I don't want to talk about Phoebe," Cole cut her off. He strode over to her closing the gap between them, until his face was a mere few inches away from hers. Piper's heart pounded in her chest, and every instinct in her screamed that something was not right, but she found herself paralyzed, rooted to the spot.

"Cole, you're scaring me," she whispered, barely able to breathe.

"Scared?" he questioned, reaching out to stroke her face. She trembled violently. "You should be excited, Piper. No Leo for a month…you must be pretty frustrated. I'm here to help you with that, if you're willing to help me too."

Cole allowed the hand that was caressing Piper's face to drift behind her head, stroking her hair. He didn't break eye contact, and Piper found that, try as she might, she still couldn't move.

"Cole, what are you doing?" she whimpered fearfully.

Cole didn't answer. Instead, he drew her head swiftly toward his own, grabbing her mouth in his own for a violent kiss. For a moment longer, Piper was powerless to resist him, but whatever hold he had held over her with his eye contact finally broke, and she was able to push away. She frantically shot her hands up, trying to freeze him, but he hit them down. Pushing her hard against the counter, he forced her hands behind her back, snapping what felt like handcuffs around them.

Piper screamed, jerking away, but not before her hands were locked securely, rendering her powers useless. She tried to dart away, but he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back, pressing her into the wall, holding her tight as he began to run kisses down her face and neck. He tore at her shirt, sending buttons flying as he ripped it open.

Piper tore herself away again, desperately, and managed to get several steps across the room before he was upon her again. With a hard blow he sent her flying to the floor, where she lay momentarily still, the wind knocked out of her. In that moment, Cole was atop of her, straddling her legs and ripping at her shirt, her skirt, her bra and underwear.

"Why are you doing this," she cried, whimpering, an endless worthless refrain against the man who was brutalizing her. "Please stop, please, pleasepleasepleaseplease…"

Cole just smiled at her, rubbing his hands up and down her now-bare legs, taking his time undoing his own pants.

"Ah, yes," he told her, "Ever since you were fourteen, getting raped again was one of your worst fears, wasn't it? Well, now I'm here to make that fear come true, and turn your life into a living nightmare. Because this time, not even your sisters will believe you."

"Why?" Piper repeated again, anything to keep him talking, to keep him from finishing what he had started.

"Why?" Cole laughed. "Because I can. Because I enjoy seeing you in pain. Because I am now the Source, and the only way to get Phoebe to be my queen is to get you and Paige out of the way. I thought I'd start with you. Isolate you, get you emotionally separated from her. It shouldn't be too hard. Not with this."

"You're lying," Piper said, a hard edge to her voice. "You're not the Source. You don't have any powers. You're just a man, who, no longer having his demonic half, has to let out his evil in other ways. Don't kid yourself Cole. There's no evil other half making you do this right now. You're just a sick, twisted, bastard!" Piper screamed the last word, spitting in his face.

To her shock, Cole just laughed. "Not special, Piper? Not the Source?" Continuing to stare at her, he allowed his eyes to go completely black, giving himself the pleasure of feeling Piper tremble all the more beneath him. Keeping his eyes black, he leaned down, kissing and fondling her some more.

"I hope you enjoy your time with me, Piper," he whispered into her ear, as the tears flowed silently down her cheeks. "It should be truly a night to remember. Because you know, after this, you can never really regain your purity or innocence that you got back after the first time. You are sleeping with the devil, and there is no coming back."

With those parting words, Cole, or the Source, stopped talking, and proceeded to rape her viciously and methodically. When he was finished, he untied her, and left Piper lying on the floor in the middle of her club, naked and sobbing.


	2. Chapter 2

Back at the Manor…

"Oopsie daisy," Paige said, supporting Phoebe out of the car.

Phoebe looked miserably down at herself, groaning slightly. The car ride had not proven good to her stomach. "I so need a shower," she mumbled.

Paige seemed amused. "Judging by the smell of you," she teased, "I would have to say I concur. However, you may want to wait until morning. I don't think showering on your own is the best idea right now, and I'm a bit too tired to want to hop in there with you."

"Feel…crap." Phoebe got out, and Paige clucked sympathetically.

"Lean on me," she told her sister. "We'll get you upstairs and cleaned up a little."

After drinking a glass of water and forcing down the two advil that Paige had given her, Phoebe was finally able to collapse into bed. Satisfied that Phoebe was well on her way to dreamland, Paige put another glass of water and two more pills next to Phoebe's bedside, and went off to get some sleep herself.

Around five in the morning, Phoebe awoke to find Cole gently stroking her face.

"I'm so sorry about our fight baby," he whispered to her. "I love you, and I know you would never cheat on me. I can't believe I said the things that I did. Forgive me?"

Speech was rather beyond her at the moment, but Phoebe did push back the covers some, gesturing to the bed. Cole climbed in beside her, and Phoebe settled into his arms, feeling safe and secure in his warm embrace.

Phoebe didn't awake again until several hours later, when the sunlight began to beat unbearably down on her pounding head.

"Oh, my god," she groaned. "I think I am going to throw up. I don't think I've had a hangover this bad in years." Her eyes alighted upon the class of water and two advils that sat on her dresser, and Phoebe gulped them doing eagerly. Squinting a little, she made out Cole standing in front of her window, looking out over the street.

"Cole?" she asked meekly, "could you please close the blinds? I think my head is going to explode.

Cole didn't respond, nor did he turn away from the window.

"Cole?" she repeated, "Please? I literally think I am dying here."

Cole turned towards her then, his face troubled. "I need to talk to you," he told her, voice serious. "It's pretty important. I probably should have told you last night, or waited until today to come home rather than taking advantage of you like that, but…"

"Cole, you're scaring me," Phoebe interrupted. "What's going on?"

Cole made his way over to the bed and sat down next to her, taking one of her hands in his own. "First, I want to make sure you know that I love you, so, so much. I would never do anything to intentially hurt you. You are my world. OK?"

Phoebe nodded, even more scared now than before about what was to come. "Just tell me," she said.

Cole sighed, and still holding her hand, began. "Well, last night, after our fight, I was pretty upset, as I'm sure you were." Phoebe grimaced, thinking of the hangover she had to remind her of just how upset she was. "Well, after I stormed out of here, I went to a bar, had a few drinks, tried to calm myself down. Before long, I saw that I had been a complete idiot and ass to you. I've been really stressed out about how I fit into your life with my new powerless existence, but that's no excuse for the things I said to you. I came back here, but you were all gone. I noticed some of your clothes lying around, so I guessed you might have changed to go to the club. I drove over there, just thinking that I needed to find you and apologize.

"When I got there though, I saw you leaning against this guy. I went—well, I pretty much went bezerk. I stormed out of the club, went to the nearest bar I could find, and proceeded to get as drunk as I could.

Phoebe had a vague memory of one of Piper's waiters holding her up in her chair as she lay slumped over the bar, but couldn't remember much more than that. She was sure that there couldn't have been anything else, though. There was no way her sisters would have let her do something she would seriously regret.

"Cole, I'm sure I wasn't-" she began, but he cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"I realize that now," he told her. "But then, I was already upset and a little drunk, so I just took it totally the wrong way, and got out of there. I went back to the bar where I had been earlier, and had a few more drinks. After a while, I got the notion in my head that I needed to confront you, tell you about what I'd seen.

"But I guess something in the back of my mind told me that that would be a bad idea, that I should have something more concrete before flying at you with accusations again. I wasn't sure how to go about doing that though, and it was getting pretty late…

"Then I realized that Piper would probably still be at the club, closing up and cleaning and stuff. I knew that she was there with you all evening, and I hoped she would tell me the truth about anything that may have happened.

"So I went over there. I was right, she was still there—it was around two then, and she seemed pretty tired. She took a break from the paper work she was working on, and started talking to me…I told her my worries about you, she talked about how much she missed Leo, and well, before I really knew what happened, she…well, she kissed me."

Phoebe went deadly pale. "This better be some sort of sick joke," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"It-it gets worse," Cole told her reluctantly. "I wish I could say that I shoved her away, that I stormed out of there right then. But I didn't. I was drunk, and lonely, and upset, and worried, and she was exhausted, and lonlier, and craving company of any sort, and not really in her right mind at all, and I know that none of these come even close to being valid excuses, for either of us, but, well…"

"Don't say it," Phoebe pleaded, voice raw. "I don't want to hear it. Please, don't say it."

"I-I slept with her Phoebe. I hate myself for it, and it was probably the biggest mistake that either of us ever made in our lives. But I can't lie to you Phoebe, that would just make it worse. I may not have initiated it, but I didn't try hard enough to stop it, and…Piper and I slept together. I am so, so sorry."

Phoebe, however, didn't hear the last part. She was already dashing into the bathroom, where she sat on the floor heaving over the toilet, unable to get the image of her fiancé, her one true love, and her sister, her best protector, out of her mind.

---

Piper didn't know how long she stayed on the floor, shaking and sobbing. It could have been hours, it could have been minutes. Time had lost any and all of the meaning it had possessed just earlier that day; the moment when her sister's left the club seemed like a lifetime ago.

Eventually, her sobs began to quiet, and she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Cole had unbound her wrists just before leaving, and now she rubbed hard at the red marks they had left, as though by making them disappear she could make the horror itself fade away.

Breathing shakily, Piper began to gather up her clothes and slowly put them back on. Her fingers were trembling so hard that she broke the zipper on her skirt when she tried to pull it up. Her shirt was so tangled that she could barely see how to get it back right-side out. The shaking in her hands was not helping, and tears of frustration poured down her face, as she seemed to make an even bigger mess of things.

"Shit!" she finally screamed, flinging the shirt across the room. She clapped her hand to her mouth then, gasping and heaving, eyes unable to leave the tangled and torn mess in front of her.

Giving a low moan, Piper turned and stumbled into the bathroom, violently throwing up into the toilet in front of her. Eventually, there was nothing left in her to expel, but she remained crouched on the floor, tears streaming silently down her cheeks, and forehead pressed against the cool porcelain. When she felt she had calmed down enough again, she rose and flushed the toilet, then went over to the sink to rinse of mouth and splash some cold water on her face. She was careful not to look at her reflection in the mirror.

From there, Piper made her way slowly over to herc office, where she kept a few changes of clothes for when stuff spilled or sloshed on her at work. The numbness was beginning to set in now, freezing her into a robotic-like state. Mechanically, she pulled on the clean clothes, carrying out the soiled ones to the dumpster in the back alley. Once back inside, she grabbed a pillow off of the small couch and sat down, wrapping herself around it. She slowly rocked herself back and forth in an unconscious attempt to sooth herself, staring off into space. She was completely unaware of her surroundings, conscious only of the kaleidescope of images and thoughts that bombarded her.

A large part of her—a very large part—wanted to go home, crawl into her sisters' arms and let them comfort this away, but another part of her would not allow herself to do this. Because every time she imagined fleeing back to them, she was hit with the realization that she would have to tell Phoebe that it was Cole who had done this too her, and explain what he had become. Phoebe. Oh god, how was she going to face Phoebe? Her baby sister was upset enough over the little problems she had been having with Cole, how was she going to handle this? It would completely crush her…and Piper didn't think she would be able to do her usual job of picking up the pieces. She felt so broken herself right now, and the irony was, rather than having any sort of chance of putting herself back together, anything she could do to help herself would just end up shattering the lives of those close to her.

No, there was no way that Piper could even imagine facing her sisters rigt now, especially Phoebe. She needed time to think, time to plan out what to say. Phoebe deserved to, that much was obvious. There was no way Piper could leave her oblivious to the fact that her fiancé was currently possessed by the Source of all evil.

But how could Cole be the Source? It didn't make any sense. Sure, he had been acting a little weird lately, but nothing that would make any of them suspect something like this, at least not until…Piper pulled her mind away from that thought. When could it have happened? How could it have happened? She question instead.

_It's all my fault_, she decided. _I should have noticed something was wrong. This is going to hurt Phoebe so much. I'm the big sister now. I'm supposed to protect her. Prue would have noticed something was wrong. I'm just a big screw up. It's my own fault that all of this happened. I wish Leo were here. He would know how to make everything okay again. But he might not even want to be with me after this. I'm contaminated, even worse than last time. Cole said it. I've had evil inside of me, and I can never get it out. _

Piper stayed like that, rocking and thinking, for another couple hours, at which point exhaustion and her sheer inability to handle anything else drove into a restless and troubled sleep. In her dreams, she was raped over and over again by a man with now face, while her sisters stood by and laughed.


	3. Chapter 3

Several more hours passed before Piper was able to pull herself out of her half-dreaming, half-awake nightmare state. For a moment she just blinked and looked around, trying to orient herself. Papers were stacked neatly on her desk, and Piper saw her coat and purse flung onto her chair. Everything seemed so blissfully normal. _Maybe last night was just a bad dream_, Piper tried to convince herself. _Paige's warning worried me more than I had realized and I fell asleep while taking a break from working and I just…dreamed it all_.

Piper wanted to believe it, but as soon as she looked down at herself, she saw her change of clothes and the reality of what happened last night hit her like a brick all over again. She would have broken down again, but fortunately, the blessed numbness washed over her again, shutting down her emotions.

_I have to get home_, she thought tiredly, looking at the clock. _Paige made me promise to get home hours ago. Not that it matters anymore. Her 'bad feeling' has already come to pass_. Piper listlessly pulled herself off of the couch, and grabbed her purse and keys off of her desk. Emotionally, she was still completely shut down, not processing anything beyond that moment.

Piper felt a twinge of something grab at her as she exited the office and took in the mess in the main part of the club, left over from her struggle last night. She passed a hand over her face, struggling to remain in control. Taking a deep breath and digging her nails into her palms, Piper managed to shove the emotions back down, under the layers of numbness until she could no longer reach them.

Mechanically, she righted chairs and swept up broken glass, finally stopping when the club had once more reached a semblance of normality. Outward normality, anyway. Piper wondered if she'd ever be able to look at it the same way again, then bit her lip. This was her place damn it. How could he take that from her?

Surveying her now-tidied surroundings, Piper sighed and leaned against the counter, exhausted. Even the littlest tasks seemed like almost too much for her to handle, and she just wanted to curl back up on the couch, fall back asleep, and never wake up. However, she couldn't make herself do it. With the club no longer looking like a tornado had hit it, Piper found no more excuses to keep her from heading home. Besides, the longer she put it off, the angrier her sisters would be at her, for keeping things from them. Piper didn't think she could deal with their anger.

An unwelcome thought flitted into her head then, something that Cole had said while he was…Piper had tried to block him out, but bits and pieces of his taunts and gotten through, and stuck with her. '_This time, not even your sisters will believe you_,' he had said. Piper didn't know if this was an empty threat, something designed to make her too terrified to actually tell them what had happened, or whether Cole really had some sort of plan. Frankly, finding out scared her shitless. If he was telling the truth…well, it certainly didn't make Piper eager to confide in them. If they didn't know, they couldn't hate her. If they did, they could. It was as simple as that.

However, Piper knew that not only was it not fair to keep her sisters in the dark as to what had happened, it was also dangerous. What if Cole tried to hurt one of them too? Piper could never let either of her sisters experience what she just went through. She had to tell them, no matter what the consequences.

Reminding herself of this, Piper reluctantly picked up her keys and bag, and headed out the door, blinking in surprise at the sunshine that awaited her. The brightness of the day seemed to be laughing at her, and Piper hurried to her car to be out of it.

---

It was deathly quiet when Piper crept into the Manor twenty minutes later. Surprisingly quiet. Considering how late in the morning it was, Piper would have expected both of her sisters to be up. Then again, last night had been intense for all of them, so maybe it made sense that they were still asleep.

It was relieving, really, to not have them be up. It meant that she could put off the inevitable confrontation for a little bit longer. Piper tried to be as silent as she could tiptoeing up the stairs, intending to slip into her own room without anyone the wiser. However, she found herself pausing outside of Phoebe's door, hand hovering over the knob. _I'm not ready for this,_ she told herself, _I need more time to collect myself, plan what I'm going to say. I can't do this yet_.

Her body didn't seem to want to listen to her thoughts, however, and Piper watched herself turn the handle and swing open the door. The room was dark as a tomb, and Piper moved forward quietly, drawn towards her little sister's figure on the bed. She was no more than halfway across the room when Phoebe's voice startled her, cold beyond all recognition.

"Get out." The sound was so harsh and full of anger that Piper felt her blood run cold.

"Wh-what?" she trembled.

"Get. Out. You have no business coming near me. You wouldn't even be in this house if I could help it."

Piper could feel her breath coming faster as she looked at her sister in fear. What did Phoebe know?"

"I-I have to talk to you," Piper said hesitantly, trying and failing to keep her voice steady.

"We have nothing to talk about." Here Phoebe's voice was flat, leaving no room for argument.

"Phoebe, please…last night—"

"Oh, you want to tell me about last night? Well then, I have to say you're a little late. Cole already told me what happened."

"He-he did?"

For the first time, Phoebe raised her head to look at Piper. Her eyes were red-rimmed and so filled with hate and pain that Piper shrank back, shivering. "Yes. He did. How. Could. You. It was hard enough that could…could do that, but at least we were fighting, meager an excuse as that is. But you. Shit, you're my _sister_. I _trusted _you. And with one night, you just flung that back in my face, as though I mean absolutely nothing to you."

Phoebe turned away again, brushing angrily at the tears that had formed in her eyes. Piper could not catch her breath, as she felt the responsibility of her sister's pain hit her.

_She knows it's my fault_, Piper thought numbly. _She knows what he did, but she knows that I should have been expecting something, that I should have been prepared, that I should have…should have…_

"Please, Phoebe," Piper tried, brokenly, "I didn't mean to—I didn't even want—"

"Oh, you didn't want to?" Phoebe sneered. "Well then, Piper, do tell, why exactly did you? Why did you let it happen?"

Piper shuddered. For one desperate moment, she wanted to lash out at her sister, scream at her "It was a rape, damn it! Since when do people let rapes fucking happen! They just do!"

But Piper couldn't get the words past the point of thought. At that point, she couldn't even begin to articulate the words "I was raped." She just couldn't make them come out. Besides, a part of her honestly felt like it was something that she had let happen, that if she had just tried harder, fought more, been more alert, less oblivious, then she could have prevented…

Isntead, she latched onto the other part of the story, the part that she could tell. "He's the Source, Phoebe. I couldn't—he was too—he's evil, and I did try to—"

Each disjointed phrase came out more desperately than the last, but Piper saw no look of understanding or compassion begin to light in her sister's eyes. Instead, she laughed disbelievingly.

"The Source?" She snapped incredulously. "The _Source? _Jesus, Piper, how far would you go to get out of this? Get a clue, Piper. I am not letting you off the hook for this, no matter how many lies you tell about my fiancé. Just because you are having problems because your own husband isn't around doesn't mean that you have to try and spoil other people's lives. You are such a selfish bitch that I don't even want to know you right now. Cole has worked so hard to become good. We may be having problems right now, and he may have slept with you, but that doesn't turn him into a demon Piper, and you can't make yourself innocent. I can't _believe_ that you would even think of coming to me with such a blatant lie."

Something about what Phoebe had said jarred with Piper, knocking against what she thought Phoebe knew about the situation. Slept with? Did that mean…had Cole told her that it was a mutual thing? Did she not know it was a rape? Suddenly, Piper began to question Phoebe's easy acceptance of just why this was Piper's fault. Maybe she didn't really know the truth. Maybe if Piper could just tell her…

Piper opened her mouth again, praying that she would be able to find the words this time.

"Phoebe, I…"

Phoebe cut her off immediately. "NO! Right now I don't want to see you, hear you, or even know that you exist. Now get the hell away from me and don't even think about coming back until I have had some time to cool off! Now go!"

"But Phoebe I swear that I…"

"GO!"

Tears now once more streaming down her face, Piper turned and fled out the door, racing down the hall and into her own room. Slamming and locking her door behind her, Piper sank down onto the ground and leaned against it, hugging her knees and sobbing. However bad things had seemed before, they now seemed infinitely worse.


	4. Chapter 4

Original A/N: Come on guys, I need more reviews! Anyways, so in response to one of your reviews, yes I will be making a distinction between Cole and the Source-as you can see in this chapter-but will continue to call him Cole, because calling him "The Source" all the time would sound a bit to melodramatic. Besides, he still is Cole-it's just that the good in him has been overpowered. Charmed is the property of the WB and Aaron Spelling; none of the characters belong to me, blah blah blah blah blah. On with the story!

---

Paige woke late that morning, after a restless night's sleep. All last night, she had been unable to shake the feeling that something seriously wrong was about to happen to her family, something centering around her oldest sister.

This morning, tired and headachy from her lack of real sleep the night before, the feeling had only gotten worse. It was as though whatever cloud that had been threatening last night had come and settled down over the manor while she slept.

Trying to tell herself that she was just being paranoid, Paige pushed herself out of bed and got dressed. _I'm just tired_, she thought, _and that's why I feel worse today. There isn't anything going on_. Still unable to completely quell her fears, Paige walked over to her window and peered out of it. There was Piper's car, sitting in the driveway where it belonged.

_See?_ she told herself, _you're just being silly. Piper obviously got home safe and sound last night. If there had been a problem she would have come and woken me up. So stop being such a head case, Paige._

Deftly pulling her hair up into a ponytail, Paige headed out of her room to go in search of breakfast. Coffee was definitely the order of the morning. She had only traveled a few steps outside of her room when she heard what sounded like a muffled choking sound. It sounded like it was coming from Phoebe's room. Concerned, Paige walked over to her sister's door, and rapped quietly. When there was no answer, she pushed it open, and let herself in.

Phoebe was sitting huddled on her bed, quietly crying into the pillow she held hugged to her chest. Paige hurried forward, heart contracting in pain for her big sister.

"Phoebe?" she asked, wrapping her arms around the shaking form, "Phoebe honey, what's the matter? Is it Cole?"

The mention of Cole's name caused Phoebe to begin sobbing even harder, and she clung desperately to Paige for support.

"Sweetie, sweetie," Paige murmured, in an attempt to calm her sister, "Can you try to talk to me about it? Honey, please talk to me."

Phoebe took a long shuddering breath and raised her tear-stained eyes to meet Paige's. "Piper…" she started, before dissolving into tears again.

Paige could feel the weight of the cloud settling down on her. Oh god. Maybe she had been right after all. Please, god, no. She can't have lost her sister. Not when she only just found her.

"Piper what, sweetie?" Paige asked, trying to keep her voice calm. "Did something happen to Piper?"

"Piper and Cole…" Phoebe tried again, the words obviously painful to force out of her mouth.

Now Paige was even more worried. Had something happened to both of them? Oh god, she had to be missing something. They couldn't handle that. They'd fall apart, both of them. "Piper and Cole what?" Paige tried hard to keep her voice from shaking. She had to stay strong and in control her. Besides, she was probably wrong anyway. She could not let herself freak out until she knew what was going on.

"Slept together." Phoebe's voice was so quiet that Paige wasn't sure she even heard her right. Once the meaning of what her sister said sunk in, Paige just sat there for a moment, frozen in shock. Piper and _Cole_? No, that was impossible, She wouldn't…they wouldn't do that to Phoebe. They couldn't.

"What? Phoebe, honey, no…there's got to be some mistake…they wouldn't…"

"Wouldn't they?" Phoebe laugh was harsh and humorless. "Well then, that's strange, because they did."

Paige was still for another moment, trying to process this. "Are you sure?" she asked finally, slowly. "I mean, I believe you, but…it just seems so…I can't really…"

"I know," Phoebe responded softly, sounding more broken than Paige had ever heard her. "I keep thinking that this must be some sort of bad dream, or something out of an after school special, because these things don't happen in real life. At least, not to people like us. My sister's not supposed to sleep with my fiancé."

Her voice cracked on the last part, and Paige wrapped her more tightly in her arms. "Cole told me this morning," Phoebe continued softly, her voice barely above a whisper. "He said that he went to the club last night, drunk, wanting to talk to her and find out if I was sleeping with someone else, because he was w-worried that I was. And she started talking about how much she missed Leo, and then all of the sudden, she just j-jumped him, and he didn't stop her. He didn't even stop her."

Phoebe's voice trailed off there, and she buried her head in Paige's shoulder. "Oh, god," Paige said, inadequately. "Have you—have you talked to Piper? I mean, are you—are you sure that's what happened? Not that he would lie, because I can't see any reason why he would make a story like that up, but…just to be, you know, sure…"

"I know," Phoebe said, nodding into her shoulder. "But he's telling the truth. Piper came in here this morning, and she…she pretty much confirmed it. She said that she hadn't wanted it to happen, that she didn't want to hurt me, but…she didn't deny that it happened."

"Oh, honey," Paige breathed, shocked.

"Y-you know what one of the worst parts is?" Phoebe asked, trembling. "She wouldn't even take responsibility for her actions. At first she just kept saying that she didn't want to, but that she couldn't help it, and when I asked her why she couldn't help it, she-she tried to get out of it by calling him the Source. The Source, Paige! I mean, of-of all the lies she could have come up with, she picks the most outlandish, unbelievable piece of bullshit…" Phoebe's tone turned angry then. "I mean, God! My sister fucked my fucking husband, and she won't even taking fucking responsibilities for her actions! She won't even admit how messed up she is!"

Her voice faded again there, and she shook her head, tiredly. "How could she do this to me, Paige? She's my sister, my protector, and she…she…how could she…"

"Shhhh..." Paige cut her off, gently rocking her back and forth. "It's going to be ok. I promise, I'll find a way to deal with this, alright?"

"I just don't know what to do," Phoebe whispered.

"You don't have to do anything," Paige told her. "Just stay here for a minute. I am going to go have a little chat with sister dearest."

With that, Paige hugged Phoebe one more time before stalking out of the room, eyes snapping ominously.

---

Piper remained huddled up against her door for several minutes, before finally crawling over to her bed, where she curled up into a ball. She felt physically ill from her encounter with Phoebe: weak, shaking, dizzy, and nausea all rolled through her body in varying waves. She glanced over at the door at one point, verifying that she had locked it, then gave a little hysterical laugh at the futility of the gesture. Cole could just flame in whenever he wanted to, and there wasn't a goddamn thing she could do about it.

Piper shuddered, thinking about him, and tried to push her mind in another direction. Unfortunately, there wasn't really anything good that she _could_ focus on. As soon as she tore her mind away from thinking about Cole, it instead settled on the confrontation with Phoebe. Oh god, Phoebe. Piper still couldn't quite take in the way her little sister had acted. She had known that Phoebe would be mad, how could she not, given the situation, but…how could she have said those things. Piper would never do _anything_ intentionally that could hurt her little sister, how could Phoebe not know that? How could she have so little faith in her? _Am I really such a horrible big sister_, Piper asked herself, _that Phoebe would believe for a minute that I would do that to her? How can she blame me like that?_

The answer, of course, was immediate and obvious. _Because she knows that it's my fault. She knows that there must have been something, anything, I could have done to stop him. But I didn't. So it's my fault._

Piper squinched her eyes up tight in an effort to stop the tears that were flowing down her face. What gave her the right to be so upset, so self-pitying, when she had just caused her little sister's world to come crashing down around her? Phoebe had the right to cry. She, Piper, did not.

Piper was in the midst of trying to control herself when she heard the familiar tingle of blue lights behind her. It couldn't be Leo, could it? Piper caught her breath, and turned slowly around, desperate to see the form of her husband behind her, here to make everything ok again.

The person was not Leo, and Piper could feel the physical weight of her hopes crashing down around her. Instead, Piper found herself meeting the eyes of Paige, and she searched them desperately, longing for some glimpse, however small, of understanding and compassion. She found none.

"Phoebe told me what happened," Paige told her coldly, and Piper shrank down, feeling defeated before she even got a chance to explain herself. Any of Piper's remaining hopes that perhaps maybe Paige could help her were dashed.

"Paige," she tried anyway, "please, you have to listen to me…"

Paige just laughed in her face. "Why? Do you can tell me the same cock and bull story you fed to Phoebe? Shit, Piper, do you have any idea how upset she is right now? Any inkling of what you did to her?"

Piper shook her head frantically, trying to get Paige to understand her. "Paige, please, I know it sounds hard to believe, but it's true, Cole, he's-he's the Source, and he…"

Paige laughed again, the sound harsh and grating to Piper's ears. "Oh please, Piper," she spat. "Save me your pathetic little fairy tale. At least try to be consistent with yourself. I mean, when Cole actually was a demon, weren't you the one who was always telling me that he was good, that we didn't need to worry about him? And now that he's finally not a demon, finally can prove himself to be completely good, you try to tell us, oh wait, no, now he's evil."

Piper kept on shaking her head, now silent, unable form the words that would make Paige understand. Maybe she couldn't understand. Paige continued, undeterred by the silence.

"You don't make any sense, Piper. I agree with Phoebe. You did this because you haven't seen Leo in a month, and so did this thing with Cole that you regretted, but then, rather than admitting to your issues, you try to get out of being blamed by creating this whole fantasy where Cole is a demon. Well, it's crap, Piper. You just need to learn to toughen up and deal with your problems, and not force them onto others like this."

Paige stopped talking there, and just looked at Piper, waiting for her points to sink in. "Now," she continued finally, seeing that Piper was not going to respond, "I am going to go take care of Phoebe, and I don't want to see you again until I tell you that you can come back. We'll call you if there's a demon attack we can't deal with without you, and you can do likewise, but other than that, I want no contact, especially between you and Phoebe. Understood?"

Without waiting for a response, Paige spun on her heel, and headed for the door.

"Paige!" Piper called her back desperately, unable to let it end like this. Paige turned around and surveyed her coolly, obviously uninterested in whatever she had to say.

"Paige, he…he raped me." The words were out of her mouth before she even had time to process them, and her voice was so quiet that she worried Paige hadn't heard her. She didn't think she could say it again.

Paige did seem to have heard her though, and for the first time, Piper saw a flicker of something—doubt? Pity? Fear? —flicker upon her sister's face. She waited, holding her breath, for her Paige to answer, praying that this, her final argument, would win her sister over.

After that one flash of opening up though, Paige seemed to shut down again. "You know what Piper?" she said tonelessly, "I don't believe you. If you had come to me with that right away, then you could probably have gotten me. But as it is…this is just another one of your lies, Piper, like him being the Source. That was your undoing. If you hadn't tried to convince us of that, we probably would have fallen into your trap. But as it is…well, you wasted it, Piper. I can see it for the lie it is. Know that you dug your own grave. You crossed the line with that."

Paige turned around again and headed out the door, slamming it behind her. Piper could only stare after her, frozen. She had given her sisters everything she had, and been completely and utterly rejected. Now, there wasn't anything she could do.


	5. Chapter 5

Piper had barely begun to process what had just happened with her sisters when Cole flamed into the room. He walked toward her, menacingly, and Piper shrank back against the headboard, terrified. What else did he want to do to her? Hadn't he destroyed her life enough already?

Seeing the fear in her eyes, Cole laughed. "Don't worry, darling. I'm not here to rape you again…not just yet, anyway. It will happen again, never fear…but I want to make you suffer a little more first, give you some time to worry about it, brood over the hell your life is becoming. But don't think that means I don't have other plans for you. No, we're going to have a lot of fun together, you and I. Right now, however, it's just going to be fun of a different sort."

Reaching forward, he slowly caressed her cheek, and Piper shuddered convulsively at his touch. "Why are you doing this?" she whispered. "You're a good man, Cole—you can fight this. Please, don't let the evil of the Source take over the good I know must still be in there somewhere. If you can't do it for me, and you can't do it for yourself, then please, do it for Phoebe. You know you don't want to hurt her like this. Please, Cole. Please?"

Cole roughly shoved her away. Her words had obviously hit a nerve. "I tried fighting it," he growled at her, slamming his fist against her dresser. "It's too strong. The evil of the Source is a hundred times more powerful than that of Balthazar. There was never any question of who would win the struggle."

Piper looked at him silently, disgust warring with compassion inside of her. The man in front of her terrified her beyond all belief. But at the same time, she felt for the man she had once known, the man who had been taken over by evil. If the Source really had taken over Cole in this way, then he, the good Cole, was as much a victim and a pawn in this as any of the rest of them.

"Is he still in there?" she asked him softly.

"Who? Cole?"

Piper nodded.

"Yes, unfortunately. There is no way to completely kill him off, since he is still a part of me. But the evil far outweighs the good. The Cole that you used to know didn't stand a chance. The evil in me has complete control."

Piper tried to blink back her tears, hating for him to see her cry. There was no way then, of appealing to his better nature. It was too overpowered to be able to help her. No way of even using his love for Phoebe as leverage. In short, no way of stopping him.

Seeing the loss of hope flash in her eyes, Cole laughed again, confidence obviously reinstated.

"Now," he told her cruelly, strolling back over and running his fingers through her hair, "I think it's time to begin phase two of my plan. The part that will make it completely impossible for anyone to believe you are the innocent party here. The part that will make even your precious little white lighter believe you are nothing more than a lying whore."

By now, Piper was trembling to hard to even jerk herself away, and she searched his face desperately for any remaining vestige of humanity.

"No," she pleaded, "Please don't do this. Please, please, please stop hurting us. Please, Cole? If there is any good left in you, let it win. Try to fight this, please, stop…I don't…I can't…"

Cole smirked. "What, and deprive myself of all the fun I'm having? Sorry, don't think so." Cole waved his hands, and Piper watched as a potion bottle and piece of paper appeared on her dresser. Cole strolled over to check on them, then nodded, apparently satisfied. "Looks like everything is all set up," he purred, returning to her, "and now I just have to have my fun."

Cole waved his hands again, and Piper found her hands once more somehow bound behind her back. Grinning at her, he began to slowly toy with her, undoing the buttons on her shirt, and moving his hands all over her body. Unable to stop the tears that now seemed to be in constant supply flowing down her face, Piper did bite down hard on her lip to stop from crying out. She would not give him that pleasure.

---

Meanwhile, Paige had taken Phoebe down to the living room and made her some tea. She knew that it couldn't even come close to fully comforting her sister for what was happening to her, but at the moment, it was all she could think of to do. They both sat huddled on the couch, Paige's arms wrapped tightly around Phoebe as she held her sister close to her.

Phoebe had moved through a dizzying series of emotions in the past few hours, from yelling and screaming to sobbing to flinging things across the room while sobbing and screaming, and back and forth again. Now, spent, she leaned her head against Paige's shoulder, staring off into space and not saying anything. A part of her still wanted to keep crying, wanted to sob until she had at least bled some of the pain of this betrayal away, but she seemed to have run out of tears. She was back in a state of emotionless shock, where she felt so much and yet so little all at the same time.

Her mind was constantly running and rerunning through every detail that she had heard today. When Cole had first come to her with his story, she had felt equally furious and betrayed by both parties, both Cole and Piper. At that moment, she had probably even hated Cole a little more, because she had been unable to really connect what Cole had told her with the Piper that she thought she knew. It just seemed too inconceivable. So, while Phoebe had been furious with Piper, it had been more of an abstract fury, whereas her fury and hatred of Cole at that moment seemed very tangible.

Now, however, her emotions were all jumbled up. Piper's story, Piper's lies, as she thought of them, had seemed such a betrayal that she didn't really have that much left in her with which she could hate Cole. Instead, she found she was almost forgiving of him. Yes, he had betrayed her, yes, he had slept with her sister, but at least he had been honest about it. He confessed to her. Piper…she just tried to shove all the blame off of herself, to the point where she was willing to create a lie, which, if Phoebe had believed it, could have gotten Cole, _killed_. It seemed so low as to have erased Cole's wrong doings by comparisons. If Cole had showed up at that moment, Phoebe probably would have gone running into his arms and forgiven him, if only to have one constant back in her life.

_Of course_, a little voice in her mind whispered, _there's always the possibility that Piper really is telling the truth. Unlikely, yes, but possible. Think of everything we've experienced in the years since becoming witches. Is her story really so inconceivable_?

Phoebe shook her head a little, trying to get rid of the nagging voice. Piper was wrong, that was the bottom line. She had to be wrong.

Paige surveyed her sister, worry outlined in every groove of her face. She had told Phoebe little of what had transpired when she went to confront Piper in her room, knowing that it would only serve to upset her sister more. She stood by that decision, but…well, Paige couldn't help but wonder if it was wrong of her to withhold the last little tidbit of information Piper had shared with her. The part where Piper had said that she was…

Not that Paige had believed her, of course. Not after everything else. It had to be just another lie. But still…shouldn't it be the sort of information Phoebe deserved to have? Was it safe to leave her without it, no matter how unlikely it was that it was true?

These thoughts of doubt, however weak, made Paige shiver. If Piper was telling the truth…god, she couldn't even begin to imagine what must be going on in her head right now. It almost gave her a panic attack just thinking about it. Paige knew she was lying. She had to be. But if she wasn't…

Biting her lip, Paige turned a little toward Phoebe, wondering if this was the right thing to do. It would hurt Phoebe more. But…well, she should know. Have all of the information.

"Umm, Phoebe…there's…there's something I think I should tell you."

Phoebe didn't respond, but Paige could tell that she had her sister's attention.

"Umm…when I went to talk to Piper, to confront her about what was going on, she told me something…" unable to come up with a tactful way of putting this, Paige finally just came out with it bluntly. "She told me Cole raped her."

Paige could feel Phoebe's body tense at the words, but after a moment, it relaxed again, and Phoebe leaned back against her.

"I was kind of expecting something like that," Phoebe said finally, voice quiet and defeated. "When she came out with all of the Source stuff, and was talking about how it wasn't her fault, I was waiting for her to hit upon that as an excuse. She never said it to me—I don't know if it's because she couldn't bring herself to do it, or if she just didn't think of it until she had already left...but...well, I can't really say it comes as a surprise."

Paige let out a little sigh of relief. Phoebe already knew then, and still believed that Piper was lying. It made her feel better to have that reinforcement. Two of them couldn't be wrong. That would just be too gullible. After all, what about sisterly intuition? No, if they both felt so surely that Piper was lying, than she had to be. They couldn't both be wrong.

"I am so, so sorry, honey," Paige told her, squeezing her a little tighter.

Phoebe gave her a watery smile, obviously forced. "I'll be ok," she whispered, trying to convince herself as much as Paige. "I'm just…still a little overwhelmed, you know?"

"Yeah," Paige responded softly. "I can't believe that she would do something like this."

Suddenly, both sisters were startled by a banging noise coming from upstairs. Sitting up straight, they looked at each other uneasily.

"Did you hear that?" Phoebe asked. Paige nodded. "Demon?"

"I don't know. We should probably go check."

Pushing themselves up, they rose from the couch and headed upstairs.

---

Piper had knocked a lamp off of her bedside table and now looked fearfully at Cole, certain he would do something to her for alerting her sisters to his presence. She waited for him to flame out, leaving her alone to once more face her sisters, but instead her remained, a maniacal grin on his face. She watched as he cocked his head, listening to the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

Pulling her close again, Cole whispered in her ear. "Here they come," he told her, "the fun is about to begin."

"Wha-" Piper started to say, and the door was thrown open. In that same instant, Cole ripped off whatever was binding her hands, and shoved her away from him,

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Piper?" He shouted at her, turning red with assumed fury. "I told you, I don't want this! I never wanted this! So grow the hell up and stop trying to force me!"

Piper stared at him, open-mouthed, unable to understand just what he was doing here. In the back of her mind, she was aware that Paige and Phoebe had appeared in the doorway, and were listening to the exchange, but she was too overwhelmed to really grasp what was going on.

Phoebe jus stood there, frozen. She had arrived just in time to see Piper and Cole kissing, and then to see Cole fling Piper away from him. Unable to form a single coherent thought, let alone phrase, she merely stood there, clinging to the doorframe for support.

Paige, taking note of Phoebe's frozen state, took charge instead.

"What the hell is going on here?" she asked, voice as cold as a thousand icicles. "I want answers, and I want them now."

Cole looked at both of them pleadingly. "Phoebe, I swear this isn't my fault," he said hurriedly. "Not this time. She came up to me, in the hall, and tried to get me to sleep with her again. Said things were already so bad, that at least it would help us calm down a little. I told her no, told her that last night was a mistake, that I love you, and hate how much I hurt you. She stormed off, and slammed the door to her room. Then…well, I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I think she cast some sort of spell on me, or on herself, to make me think that she was you. She led me in here, and started to kiss me, but I guess somehow that broke the spell, because I suddenly saw who she really was. I tried to push her away, and…well, that's when you came in."

Phoebe continued to just stare at him, and Paige looked at both of them witheringly. "That's a pretty convenient story, Cole," she said sarcastically, "especially for someone who was willingly sleeping with her just last night." Not once in all of this did she address Piper. She couldn't. She would probably snap, and that wouldn't be good for Phoebe right now.

Cole gazed at Paige and Phoebe, a look of fake desperation on his face. "I have proof!" he cried. "The spell is there, on her dresser. There's another bottle of the potion, too. I don't know why she did it. She and Leo must really be having problems. I never thought she'd stoop this low." He paused, glaring at Piper, before continuing angrily. "You should ask her. She's the only one who can tell you why she did the things she did."

Paige walked slowly over to Piper's dresser, and hesitantly picked up the piece of paper that Cole had indicated. Her eyes quickly skimmed the page. It didn't take long to read, the spell was pretty basic. Her face fell as she absorbed its meaning.

Reluctantly walking back over to the doorway, Paige handed the paper to Phoebe. "He's telling the truth," she said softly, "Piper did it."

Phoebe read the spell as well, and for the first time since coming upstairs, seemed to come out of her trance. She turned to Piper murderously.

"How. Could. You." Phoebe said softly and dangerously. "Is this why you were so intent on convincing me that Cole is the Source? So that you could do this to him and not have to take the fall?"

Piper gasped. She felt as though she was falling, falling down a never-ending cliff, and she didn't know where this was going to end. Things had long since spiraled out of control, and she no longer really harbored any hope of getting her sisters onto her side, but still, something in her made her try.

"Phoebe, it's not like that. I was telling the truth before, I swear I was," she stammered wildly. "Please, god Phoebe, I can't do this, I, he…he raped me Phoebe!"

Phoebe's eyes narrowed. Stalking forward, she grabbed the "potion bottle" Cole had manifested and flung it at her sister's face. Piper barely turned away in time to keep it from hitting her.

"I don't believe you Piper!" Phoebe screamed. "You've gone to far! How can you even try to pin this on him when all of the evidence is against you! You're unbelievable."

"Phoebe I would never hurt you…" Piper begged, reaching out her hand.

"So I used to believe," Phoebe spat, slapping the hand away.

"I'm your sister damn it!" Piper finally screamed too, losing it.

Phoebe rolled her eyes at this. "Yeah, and Cole's my fiancé! And he's able to prove his story! So who am I supposed to believe huh? Tell me that Piper!"

Phoebe seemed ready to fly at Piper at that moment, tear her apart physically as well as emotionally. Paige, however, laid a cautionary hand on Phoebe's shoulder. Giving Piper her most disgusted, dirty look, she wrapped her arm around Phoebe's shoulder, and orbed them both out.

Cole smirked at Piper, watching as her world broke into tinier and tinier pieces. "Mission accomplished," he murmured. "Now I need to go oversee things down in the underworld. But don't worry. I'm not done with you yet."

With that, he flamed out, leaving Piper alone in her room. As events began to catch up with her, she broke down. Really broke down, not just the little sobbing she had been doing for what felt like the past twenty-four hours. She couldn't handle this, she just couldn't. Wrapping her shirt around her, she held onto the dresser to support herself as the room spun in circles around her, increasingly faster and faster. They seemed to be closing in on her, she couldn't breathe. Trying to keep herself upright, Piper lurched over to her bed, collapsing on it and grabbing the sides as everything whirled around her.

Just when she thought that she was going to pass out, she saw the familiar tinkle of blue lights out of the corner of her eye. Somehow, she managed to lift her head, expecting once more to have to face the wrath of Paige. She didn't think she could do it just now. She welcomed oblivion of any sort.

To her shock though, it wasn't Paige. Piper stared for a long time at the figure in front of her, trying to make sense of it.

"Leo?" she finally asked chokingly.

"Yeah, honey it's me," he told her. He quickly crossed the room and joined her on the bed, wrapping his arms, strong and reassuring and real around her. "The elders told me that something was going seriously wrong here, so they let me off early. What's going on? What happened?"

Piper didn't answer. Instead, she collapsed into her husbands embrace, letting him try and comfort her as best he could.


	6. Chapter 6

Piper stood in the kitchen, slowly stirring a little bit of milk into her cup of tea. She had been spending as little time as possible in the main parts of the house lately—sticking instead to her room, or the club, which she had refused to let Cole take from her as her sanctuary—but occasional forays into the rest of the house were necessary. _I suppose I could always get one of those hot water heaters for my room, _Piper thought, trying to suppress a slightly hysterical giggle. _Get Leo to orb me to and from the club, and I'd never have to leave my room at all._ The choked sound that escaped—half laugh, half sob—startled her as it echoed in the silent kitchen. She loved this house—how could she not, she'd lived here ever since she was a baby—and having it turn from a haven to a hell was only one of the things that made her feel as though she were slowly going crazy.

Piper was just picking up her mug, ready to bring it upstairs, when Paige and Phoebe walked into the kitchen.

"Oh," Phoebe said, as soon as she saw Piper already in the room. "Never mind."

"Phoebe…" Piper said, entreatingly. Phoebe turned back around. "What?" she asked coldly. "More stories to tell? Other important people in our lives you want to screw over? Oh, I know, is Morris a demon now? Or Andy back as a ghost, haunting you? No, I know, now you're probably pretending that _Prue's _back, as some kind of evil spirit, and you need our help destroying her. After all, that would be the thing that would be most likely to damage the family, isn't it? Which seems to be your new goal in life."

Piper visibly flinched when Phoebe said Prue's name. "Please…" she tried, a part of her wondering why she even bothered. Phoebe wasn't softening. Piper didn't think she would ever soften.

"Leo should have saved her," Phoebe said, and walked out of the room. Paige hesitated for a moment, then turned to follow.

"Paige…" Piper said, in a broken whisper. Paige watched her for a long moment. Then sighed.

"Just stop," she said. "Okay? Just stop. You could have tried to fix this. And you didn't. So just stop." Without another word, she left the room as well. Piper stood frozen for a minute, then took a step towards the door. Instead of continuing, however, she sank down to the floor, closed her eyes, and put her head on her knees. She trembled, but didn't cry. She'd stopped crying after that first night when Leo came back. Partially, she was just cried out, but it was more that she didn't think that she was worth it.

Her head hurt. Oh, her head hurt. Not that long ago, she'd started getting painful, blinding migraines, that swept over her and left her dizzy and nauseous, practically unable to move. The past week had been total hell. For the most part, Phoebe wasn't talking to her. When she did, it was to throw the sort of comment at her that she just did, the kinds of things that made Piper feel chilled and sick every time she heard them. Things with Paige weren't much better. While she was less prone to completely ignoring Piper, and her own remarks were less poisonous than Phoebe's, she still made it clear that she would be supporting Phoebe on this issue. If it hadn't been for Leo, Piper wasn't sure if she could have even survived. She still wasn't sure if she could call this surviving. She didn't know what she would call it. She just knew that she wanted it to stop.

Piper was still sitting on the floor, oblivious to her surroundings, when Paige came back into the kitchen, wanting to get a piece of fruit. Paige stopped short when she saw her sister, startled into looking, really looking, at her. She took in the trembling, the dead white bordering on ash-grey tone of Piper's skin, the skinniness and frailty. When had Piper gotten so skinny? Paige hadn't thought that this kind of change in appearance was possible in the space of only one week. And she'd missed it totally—missed it, or refused to see it.

For a moment, something inside of Paige quavered. Piper was wrong, right? Right. She had to be wrong. But wrong or not, Paige, taking in this scene, felt a sick feeling in her stomach. They were doing this to her. Paige watched as Piper violently shuddered, and began to raise her head. Quickly, Paige backed out of the room, not wanting to be seen. Troubled, and forgetting why she had gone into the kitchen in the first place, she retreated back to the living room where she was watching TV with Phoebe.

Piper raised her head and opened her eyes, but made no move to get up off the floor. Instead, she let out a deep breath and leaned her head back against the counter, and stared off into space. She didn't notice the familiar twinkling of blue lights, and when Leo put his arm around his shoulder, she jumped and flinched away, heart beating wildly.

"Hey," Leo said gently, reaching a hand out to her slowly. "It's okay. It's only me." Still breathing heavily, Piper moved back towards him, and allowed Leo to wrap his arms around her. "Bad day?" he asked softly. Piper leaned into him, and shook her head.

"Are there good ones?" she asked with a bitterness that Leo had never before heard in his wife's voice. Wordlessly, he orbed them both upstairs, so that they were both lying on the bed.

"I'm so tired," Piper whispered, her head on his chest.

"I know," Leo replied.

"I don't want to do this anymore," she said, her voice so quiet he could hardly hear her. He swallowed past a lump in his throat, knowing what she meant.

"Try to get some sleep," he said simply, and gently stroked her hair until she finally fell into an uneasy sleep. Sighing, Leo closed his eyes and found himself drifting off as well, wishing to all the gods that he could find some way to fix this.

Piper awoke from a nightmare about lying in a bed in some stranger's house, flailing someone's weight. She screamed, thrashing out, feeling strong arms wrap around her.

"Piper! Piper!"

Slowly the voice penetrated her consciousness, and Piper opened her eyes. Blinking, she took in her surroundings, panic fading slowly. She was in her own room, and the person holding her was Leo, not the boy in her dream.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked her, concerned. Piper nodded, shakily.

"Fine," she said, trying to sound dismissive and failing. "Just a bad dream." She attempted a smile. "But I guess you figured that out, huh?"

Leo just looked at her, not buying the false smile. "Honey," he said, "I'm your husband. I can tell how much you're hurting right now, and I want to help you. Please let me." Piper shook her head.

"I'm fine," she said, not looking him in the eye. "Really." She pushed herself off of the bed and sat down in front of her mirror, drawing a brush through her hair. Leo let the matter drop, and for a couple minutes, the room was silent.

"Who's Bobby," Leo asked finally. Piper froze, mid brush-stroke.

"What?" she said, trying to keep her voice even.

"Bobby," Leo said. "You were calling his name in your sleep, telling him to stop." For a long moment, Piper remained frozen, then sighed, and began to run the brush through her hair again.

"He was this guy I knew in high school," she said finally. I forgot that you didn't know the story. I guess I never talk about it, and Phoebe and Prue always just knew—I guess Paige doesn't know about it either then, unless Phoebe told her…"

"What story?" Leo asked, concerned. Piper took a deep breath. When she spoke, her voice was completely monotone, not revealing any emotion.

"It happened when I was fourteen. I was a freshman in high school. Not very popular. Well, that's an understatement. Very not popular, I guess would be more accurate. Anyways, it was freshman year, and a school dance was coming up. I wasn't planning on going. It was really formal, the sort of thing where you need a date and all, and I thought that there would be no way in hell anyone would ever ask me. But this guy, Bobby—he did ask me. And I said yes. Bobby Brown. He was one of the most popular guys in school." Piper fell silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "Turns out his friends had dared him to ask me. I didn't know that then, of course. I mean, I suspected that something was wrong when he asked--why would a guy like him want to go with a girl like me?--but he told me that he had liked me for a long time, really admired my independence, all of that sort of crap. I guess I really wanted it to be true, because I said yes. We had fun at the dance, more fun than I had expected. It was—I felt more amazing, more special, then I ever had in my life.

"But when we got left, instead of taking me back home, he took me to this party. He got me drunk—really drunk, he kept spiking my drinks and when I was far enough gone I think he started giving me vodka instead of water, because by then I couldn't tell the difference—and so I can't remember most of the night. God knows how much I actually had to drink—from what I can remember, I'm surprised that I didn't get alcohol poisoning. Next thing I know, I'm throwing up in some bathroom for what felt like hours. When I was done, he brought me out and helped me change clothes—my prom dress was a complete mess, by that point—into something he pulled out from one of the drawers. He laid me down on this bed, and started to—well. I tried to stop him, but he was so strong, and oh, I was drunk. And so I couldn't. Turns out, his friends had bet him 100 bucks to have sex with me-and if I wouldn't do it willingly, he would do it forcefully. So he raped me.

"I didn't want to tell anyone what had happened--I felt ashamed, dirty, like it was all my fault. Like I should have known better. I _had _known better. When he first asked me, I knew that something was wrong. I knew it. But I ignored it. So I felt like I deserved what I got, and that I just shouldn't tell anyone. But the next week at school, he started to tell everyone that I had sex with him willingly, and he…he'd taken pictures in the shack, that he passed around school as proof. Not just of me in the bedroom, but other stuff, too, stuff I was doing at the party that I didn't even remember—still don't even remember. Prue saw one and confronted me with it, and I broke down and told her the whole story. I tried to tell people at school that I hadn't chosen to do that…that he had raped me…but no one believed me. Only Prue, Phoebe, and Grams ever believed my side of the story." Piper paused again, and this time the silence stretched on for so long that Leo thought she'd finished. Just when he was about to say something though, Piper started speaking again, her voice low. "Things even got so bad that at one point I tried to kill myself." Here, her voice quavered slightly. "Ever since then, getting raped again has been my worst fear. And Cole made it come true. Only this time, I don't even have my sisters to believe in me."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N I only got about two reviews telling me that I should write a prequel to this, so I don't know if I will or not. If you want me too, and haven't reviewed to tell me so, please do! If you don't know what I'm talking about, please read the A/N at the end of my last chapter.  Aubrey- did the chapters ever work for you? I don't know what went wrong, they worked fine went I went to check and see what was going on. 

Disclaimer: Charmed is the property of the WB. None of the characters belong to me. (No matter how much I might wish otherwise).

Leo stared at Piper, horrified.

            "Oh honey," he breathed. "How come you never told me this before?" Piper shrugged. 

            "Its not something that I like to talk about very much. In fact, I don't think that any of us ever mentioned it after I got out of therapy. It was something that I made pretty clear to everyone back then. And now, well it's been sixteen years. I never really saw an easy way to work it into a conversation. It just never came up." Leo smiled at her compassionately.

            "I don't understand how Phoebe could know this, and still treat the way she's been treating you. How could she do that?" Piper sighed.

            "I don't know, Leo. I just don't know anymore." Leo pulled her into a hug, stroking her hair. 

            "Well it's the last straw." He said. "I'm not letting you stay here for one for minute."

            "What do you mean?" Piper asked, confused. Instead of answering her, Leo just hugged her even more tightly, and orbed out. When they reappeared again, Piper found herself in a hotel lobby. Leo walked up to the counter. 

            "I'd like to rent one double room, please." The clerk nodded.

            "And how long will you be staying, sir?" Leo thought about it for a while. 

            "One week." He finally responded. Handing the clerk his credit card, (well, Piper's credit card, he didn't really have any money of his own) he was handed in return a key.

            "You will be in room 233." The clerk told him.

            "Thank you." Taking Piper's hand, Leo guided her to their room. Upon entering, he sat her down on the bed, and then sat down beside her, holding her close."

            "I don't understand." Piper said. "What are we doing here?" Leo gently squeezed her shoulders.

            "The atmosphere at the manor was killing you. I know that coming here won't take away everything that happened, but at least you won't have to deal with Paige and Phoebe every day. Maybe you'll be able to relax a little more, feel a little better, if you have more of a sanctuary."

            "Cole will still be able to find me here." Piper said. Cole was still continuing to come to her, raping her whenever he felt like it. She never knew when to expect him, and there was nothing that she or Leo could do to stop him. 

            "I know." Leo sighed. "But it's still better than being at home, isn't it?" Piper nodded. The atmosphere at the manor had been unbelievably oppressive with tension, hatred and grief tangibly lurking in every corner, bad enough so that Piper could feel it even when her sisters weren't even home. Just leaving there, Piper felt as though a giant weight had been lifted from her shoulders, though she still hurt unbelievably much. 

            "But how are we going to afford it?" Piper asked. "As you've told me a few times, whitelighter pay sucks, and even if we were rolling in money, we can't stay in a hotel indefinitely." 

            "I know." Leo said. "But even if whitelighter pay sucks, you're making quite a lot of money off of the club. And you don't have to worry about supporting Paige and Phoebe anymore, they're big girls, and they both have jobs. It they aren't going to help you, you don't need to help them. And as for how long we're staying here, I'm looking for an apartment that we can move into. I've been looking ever since all this began, but I don't think that you can wait anymore. We can just stay here until I find a place. Hopefully that shouldn't take to long. Now you should try to get some sleep. Maybe here, you'll finally be able to." Piper nodded, and leaned against him. 

            "Do you need to go?" She asked him. 

            "Not if you don't want me to." He said. "I have some errands, but I can always get them done later. You come first." Piper smiled, one of her increasingly rare real smiles these days.

            "No, you go ahead. I'll be okay. I'll probably try to get some sleep, like you said."

            "But what if he…"

            "If he comes, then your being here won't change anything. Besides, I'd rather not have you see me like that. So go do your errands. I'll just stay here and rest." Leo nodded, and bent down to kiss her before orbing out.

            He orbed back into the kitchen in the manor, where Paige and Phoebe were now sitting and talking. Glancing up, they noticed that Leo looked really, really, mad. 

            "How come you never told me about what happened to Piper when she was fourteen?" Leo demanded.

            "What?" Phoebe asked, startled. "I don't know. It never came up, I guess. Besides, I guess that Prue and I always figured that it was Piper's story to tell. She never told you?"

            "She just did. How could you treat her like this, knowing what happened last time? Are you really willing to possibly drive her to suicide again?" Paige gasped. 

            "What are you guys talking about?" Leo turned to Paige. 

            "Apparently, when Piper was raped before, when she was fourteen. It hurt her so much that she tried to kill herself. And right now Phoebe seems to want to make her try again!"

            "Contrary to popular belief Leo, I don't want Piper to kill herself. But if you are so worried about that happening, then why are you leaving her alone?" Paige decided to butt in.

            "Whoa whoa whoa, Piper tried to kill herself before. I have to say I agree with Leo, don't you think it's a little risky to be isolating her so much, if she has a tendency to get so desperate?" Phoebe sighed.

            "She's not going to kill herself, okay? Things are different this time, she's not innocent, like she was back then."

"Says Cole!" Leo snapped.

"And all the evidence! Look Leo. Cole and I have worked really hard to get to where we are. If I trust Piper, and she's lying, then things between Cole and me will never be able to work. We have to be able to trust each other. And Paige, you know that I wouldn't treat Piper like this if I thought that it would seriously endanger her life, right? Come on Paige, you have to support me on this. I need your support." A little reluctantly, Paige nodded.

            "I know Cole, and you guys don't. I trust him, all right?"

            "Even if that trust comes at the expense of your sisters life?"

Phoebe looked down at the floor.

            "Look, the way things are going right now, all Piper has to do is apologize, take responsibility for what she did, and I will start working on forgiving her. We've been through some hard stuff in the past, and we would get through this. I know that it was hard for her to have you gone for a month, so eventually; I would be able to forgive her. Besides, if I am wrong about Cole, which I don't think I am, Piper will forgive me. But if I trust Piper, and Cole is telling the truth, I don't think he will." She said softly. 

            "You can't keep using Piper like this, always taking her for granted." Leo said coldly. "One of these days, the way you treat her is going to cause her to snap." With that, he orbed out of the manor. Paige looked at Phoebe.

            "I don't know Pheebs. What if Leo's right? We are being kind of hard on her."

            "Paige, please don't desert me now." Phoebe pleaded. "I really need you support. Piper will be okay; she has Leo. You can't leave me all alone here. Please support me on this. Please?" Sighing, Paige nodded.

            "Okay, you know I will. I just hope we're not way off the mark about Piper."

            "So do I Paige. So do I." 


	8. Chapter 8

A/N Thanks for all the great reviews I've been getting guys- a lot more people told me that I should do the prequel, so I definitely will. Oria- I had considered doing some kind of chapter of the truth spell when I first started writing, but wasn't sure how that would support where I wanted the story to go. But after I read you're review I reconsidered, and here it is. As for why Leo can't just orb Piper "up there", he can't leave her there for ever, or even for very long, because of the time difference. Even if he just left her up there for one day, she would be gone from earth for two years. And he can't just orb her up whenever Cole comes, because Cole would just attack again as soon as they came back down. And for Cole not liking Paige either-I start going into this at the end of this chapter, but most of that will be in the next chapter. Enjoy everybody!

When Phoebe came down to breakfast the next morning, she found Paige already in the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee. Smiling at her, Phoebe went over to the pot and poured herself a cup, before joining her sister at the table. 

            "You're up early." Phoebe told Paige. Paige nodded.

            "This whole thing with Piper has been really bothering me, and I didn't sleep very well last night. Anyway, I got up early this morning and started to look through the book of shadows, to see if there was a spell or something that we could cast to settle this thing once and for all. I think that I found something.

            "The truth spell." Phoebe said. Paige looked surprised.

            "Exactly. How did you know?" 

            "We used it once before. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to use it now."

            "I think we should." Phoebe nodded.

            "Yeah, you're right. The only problem is-well, it's kind of dangerous. For the day that the spell takes place, we could reveal to anyone who asks that we're witches."

            "We don't really have a choice." Paige said. "We owe it to Piper." Phoebe nodded again. 

            "What are we waiting for?" She said. 

Piper sat on the bed, shaking, as she thought of her encounter with Cole earlier that morning. Leo had already left to go house hunting, or rather, apartment hunting, and Cole had come in and done his usual thing. Afterwards, he had a conversation with her that made her want to throw up.

Flashback

            "That was nice now, wasn't that Piper." Cole said. Piper just whimpered and pulled away, trying to keep a grip on her sanity. Angrily, Cole jerked her head around so that she was forced to face him.

            "I believe that I asked you a question," he said. Then he shook his head.

            "But I guess that it doesn't really matter." Piper glared at him.

            "My sisters will kill you when they find out that I'm telling the truth, and they realize what you've been doing to me."

            "Oh really." Cole smirked. "And how are they going to find that out, huh? It's not like you can use the truth spell on them to prove that you're telling the truth. If you do that, all I have to do is wave my hands, and poof, this appears." A piece of paper appeared in Cole's hands. It was a spell, a spell that Piper knew very well. He had shown it to her the first time he had done this, to prove that using the truth spell would be useless. IT was a spell that allowed someone to lie, even when under the influence of the truth spell. Piper knew that if she tried to cast the truth spell on her sisters, Cole would cast the counter spell on himself, and then plant in her pocket or something, as evidence against her. He was right. The situation was hopeless. 

            "But you know Piper," Cole told her, "You're not the only one who knows about the truth spell. It's only a matter of time before it occurs to one of your sisters to use it. And then, I'll get to execute my plan anyway, and your sisters will hate you even more." Cole laughed, and Piper cringed. With that, he flamed out. 

Real Time

As Piper continued to shudder on the bed, she heard her cell phone ring in her purse.  

            "Hello," she answered. 

            "Piper? It's Paige. Look, Phoebe and I need to talk to you about something. Can you come over to the manor?" Piper bit her lip, worrying over what they wanted her for. What if Phoebe had thought to cast the truth spell-it would all turn out just like Cole had said. But there wasn't really anything she could do about it. 

            "Yeah." She said softly, "I'll be right over."

            Five minutes later, Piper pulled into the driveway at the manor, got out of the car, and entered the house. She found her sisters in the solarium. 

            "Hey." Paige said. "Look, I was reading through the Book of Shadows, and I found a spell that might be able to help us out here." Piper's spirits fell. The truth spell. It had to be the truth spell.

            "It's called the truth spell. Phoebe said you've used it before?" Pipe nodded. 

            "Yeah. We did-once. It didn't go very well."

            "Well I was thinking we should try it now." Piper tried not to look as desperate as she felt. That would just make her seem even more guilty later. 

            "I've called Cole." Phoebe said. "He should be here any minute now." As if on cue, Cole walked into the room, smiling.

            "He guys, I got you're message to come right over..." then he noticed the solemn looks on everyone's faces. "What's up?" He asked.

            "We're going to cast a truth spell." Paige told him. Cole broke out in a grin. 

            "A truth spell! Well, I can't see  why any of us didn't think of that before. By all means go ahead." Phoebe and Paige nodded, and the two quickly cast the spell. Finished, they look up at Piper and Cole. Piper felt like she was going to throw up. There was no way she could win here.

            "Piper," Phoebe asked, "what exactly happened the night I walked in on you and Cole?" 

            "Exactly what I told you had happened. Cole raped me." Phoebe's face fell, and she turned to Cole.

            "So? What do you have to say for yourself." 

            "She's lying!" Cole exclaimed. "You know what happened that night, I gave you the evidence! It was the other way around Phoebe, I swear to God! She was the one who forced me!" 

            "Wait a minute." Paige said, "they both have conflicting stories. How is that possible?" 

            "One of them must have found a way around the spell." Phoebe murmured.

            "Her!" Cole said. "She must have written some kind of counter spell, in case something like this ever happened. She might even have it with her! Look how guilty she looks!" Phoebe shook her head.

            "All right, both of you empty your pockets. You probably wouldn't be stupid enough to keep the spell on you, but you can never be sure." 

            "Phoebe, please..." Pipe pleaded.

            "Just do it, all right Piper!" Slowly, Piper emptied her pockets. Cole had already done so, and, surprise surprise, there was nothing there. Reluctantly, Piper handed Paige the piece of paper she had found in her left coat pocket. It was the spell. 

            "This would do it." Paige said, and handed the spell to Phoebe, who read it as well.

            "It says that in order for the spell to work, the person casting the spell would have to be in contact with some kind of charm." Piper felt some kind of heavy necklace appear on her neck, underneath her shirt. Cole, who had made his charm invisible, proved that he had no such charm. Piper slowly pulled down her shirt collar, tears coming to her eyes, so that her sisters could see the charm. There was no point in doing anything else. They would find it eventually anyway. Looking into the Phoebe's cold eyes, Piper sighed.

            "I'll let myself out." She said softly.  

After Piper had left, Paige turned to Cole.

            "You should probably go too." She said. "I need to talk to Phoebe- in private."

            "You can't possibly still blame me for what's going on." Cole said.

            "Just go Cole." Paige told him. With an injured look on his face, Cole walked out. 

            "Come on Paige, you can't still have doubts about him, can you? Not after all that?" Phoebe asked disbelievingly.

            "Actually, 'all that' is part of what's giving me doubts. Things seem to be going to perfectly for Cole. Everything just the way he says it is- it doesn't seem like Piper could possibly be as careless as it seems, for us to be able to find all this stuff. What if Cole is setting her up?"

            "You don't really believe that, do you?"

            "Actually, I do. I've trusted Cole long enough, and things seem to be going just to perfectly. I think that we've taken the bait, hook and all. And now I think its time for me to start trusting Piper." Paige turned, and walked out of the room, leaving Phoebe staring after her.

Entering her car, Paige turned the engine on. She was going to go check P3, in hopes that Piper was there. If she wasn't, then she'd have to try scrying or something.  But before Paige even pulled out of the driveway, Cole flamed in next to her. 

            "You just made a very big mistake in deciding to trust Piper." Cole said. "A very big mistake. Cole snapped his fingers, and a Paige clone appeared in the car next to him. 

            "Now she," he said, pointing to the evil Paige, "is going to take your place up here, and you, are going to join me down there. Grabbing her arm, he flamed out again, leaving Paige's evil clone behind him.   


	9. Chapter 9

Back at her hotel room, Piper sighed. She had known what was coming, known that Cole was going to do that but still-it didn't stop it from hurting. She had thought, for a moment, that Paige was going to support her, but she didn't think so anymore. If Paige had believed her, then she would have followed her here, or tried to reach her somehow, or something. Obviously she didn't actually care. Piper curled up into a ball and wrapped a blanket around herself. It was so hard to get warm lately…Leo said that it was partly because she didn't eat anything, and had no energy left to keep her body warm. He was probably right-she should eat something, at least for the baby's sake. It was just so hard. She was never hungry, the thought of food usually pretty much made her sick. For the most part, she just wanted to lay down and give up, stop fighting. Then she could be with her mom and grams…and Prue. God, she missed Prue. Prue was her only shot left at having a sister who didn't hate her. Piper shook her head, trying to chase away her thoughts. Leo better come home soon….he was the only thing that could even partially lift her out of the hole she had fallen into. She didn't want to call for him-she knew that he would come, and he had other charges that he needed to care for as well. She couldn't be selfish, no matter how much she needed him. Fortunately, Leo orbed in at that moment, smiling jubilantly.

"You'll never guess what I found…" he said, then noticed the look on Piper's face. "Honey, what's wrong? Did something happen? Did they do something else to you now?" He hurried over to her, taking her in his arms and rocking her gently. Burying her face in his shoulder, Piper forced herself to try and relax. Finally, she lifted her head up and looked away.

"They thought of trying the truth spell today." She said softly. "And Cole did exactly what he said he was going to do." 

"Oh honey." Leo sighed, and pulled her closer. He didn't need to ask of her sisters had fallen for it. He could tell just by the look in her eyes.

"I knew it was coming, and I thought that I was prepared. I almost thought that nothing that Cole or they could do would hurt me anymore, that I was to far past that. I guess that I was wrong."

"Oh honey," Leo said again. He didn't really know what to tell her. There were no magic words that could make all of this go away, and make everything ok again. But his presence was enough, and before long, an exhausted Piper had dropped into an uneasy sleep in his arms. 

Paige woke in a cold dark, place, with her head throbbing. She looked around dazedly, trying to remember where she was and what had happened. Slowly, it began to come back to her. Cole had taken her form her car, and trapped her down here. He must have knocked her out or something, because she could feel a slight bump on her head. She was in chains, and saw no way of getting out. Just then, Cole walked into the room.

"Ah, you're awake!" he said cheerfully. "That's good…I was starting to think that I'd hit you a bit too hard…don't want anything to happen to you before I have my fun with you, now do I?"

"Get away form me you bastard" Paige hissed.

"Now now Paige, that's no way to speak to your husband in law. It sounds more like the sort of thing that you'd say to, oh, I don't know, maybe your sister?" Paige flinched at the recollection of the way that she'd been treating Piper lately. And Piper was telling the truth all along. She should have realized that from the beginning, followed her instincts, instead of the evidence. Cole smiled, knowing full well what she was thinking about. 

"Don't worry about going through the same things that she did Paige- I have something totally different in mind for you. Considering how independent you are, I thought that you would like nothing more than to be my personal slave. 

            "Never!" Paige shouted.

            "Ah, but you don't really have a choice. See," Cole said as he undid the chains, "no matter how much your mind may tell you not to listen to me, you'll find that your body has other ideas. Now stand up!" he snapped. As hard as she tried to stop, Paige could feel her body rising against her will.

"Very nice." Cole said. "I'm going to have fun with you. Lots and lots of fun."

When she woke up, Piper found that she was still wrapped in Leo's comforting embrace. Blinking her eyes, Piper leaned in against him. 

"Hey you." Leo said softly. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay." Piper responded. "How long have I been out?" 

"About three hours. You were really exhausted." 

"What good news did you have to tell me when you first orbed in? I'm sorry I spoiled it."

"You could never spoil anything." Leo said, and kissed the top of her head. "I found us an apartment. Still in the city, a nice part of town, not too far from here…a really nice little place. I think you'll like it." Piper smiled.

"Oh Leo, that's great. You are the best husband a woman could ever hope for." Leo smiled at her. 

"Come on." He said. "Let's go get moved in."


	10. Chapter 10

Piper stood in the kitchen of her new apartment, dropping herbs and other ingredients into the potion bubbling on the stove. It was a nice place, and Piper really enjoyed having a real home again. It almost felt like she and Leo were starting life over in a more normal way, with their own place and all. Of course, the fact that she was in here cooking a potion sort of destroyed that little illusion, but oh well. And it would be hard, trying to build a new life that didn't have her sisters in it- she loved them so much. But for the first time since all this first happened, Piper started to feel like it might be possible. Easy, no. Fun, no. But possible…maybe. Piper was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't here Leo orb in behind her and jumped when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

            "What are you making?" he asked curiously. "No offense, but I hope it's not dinner." Piper smiled.

            "It's a potion." She replied. "One that will strip Cole's powers. With any luck, it should be ready by the next time he…comes. I want to end this Leo. Once and for all."

            "Do you really think that a power stripping potion will do it?"

            "There's still some human in him, and I can't just walk away from that. He became the Source because he was trying to save us. The least I can do is give him his life back." Leo nodded.

            "You have got to be the strongest women I know." He murmured into her hair. "Anyone else would kill Cole for what he did."

            "But that wasn't Cole. Anyway, I'm not as strong as you think. There are definitely times I'd like to kill him…but that's not even possible. We need the power of three to vanquish the source, and since Paige and Phoebe don't believe me, I doubt that they'd be willing to help. So unless I want things to stay the way they are, this is my only option." Sighing, she dropped the last ingredient into the pot. "Well, that should do it. Now we just have to wait."

            Back at the manor, Phoebe was starting to have a bad feeling about Paige. A few days ago, after that fight they had over whether to believe Cole or Piper, Paige had stormed off, seemingly to go find Piper. But about two minutes later, she had come back in, saying that she decided that Phoebe was right after all, and apologized for blowing up at her. Phoebe hadn't thought anything about it at the time, but lately…Paige just seemed, well, different. Phoebe was starting to worry that maybe she had been possessed or something. Just then, Paige walked into the kitchen, and Phoebe forced herself to smile. In case Paige was possessed, or turned evil, or something, Phoebe didn't want Paige to realize that she was on to her…

            "How are they?" Piper asked suddenly. Leo glanced at her, surprised.

            "What?" 

            "My sisters. How are they? They're still your charges, and I know that you still go over there sometimes to help put and stuff, so I was just wondering…are they happy? What are things like over there?" Leo saw the depression in his wife's eyes, the longing to be a part of her sisters' lives again. Not wanting to upset her further,  Leo tried to answer as neutrally as he could.

            "They're okay." He said slowly. "They miss you. I mean, neither of them will admit it, and Phoebe's convinced that she…"

            "Hates me?" Piper asked bitterly.

            "Nooo… I don't know what exactly she thinks. But I can tell by the way they talk about you that they miss you." Leo got an odd look in his eye. "Something's been a little off with Paige lately though. She's been acting kind of weird… I'm not really sure how to describe it." Piper looked worried, and Leo cursed himself for bringing it up. 

            "Is she okay?" Piper asked. "Sense for her. If Cole did something to her." 

            "I don't think sensing for her would help. I would have noticed already if that worked."

            "Well, have you tried? You know you can only sense us when we call for you, or when you're trying to find us. Have you tried lately?"

            "Well, no…"

            "Then try now, Leo. Please. If something's wrong I have to help her. Please?" Nodding, Leo frowned. 

            "That's weird. I can't sense her anywhere." Piper bit her lip.

            "All right, you go over to the manor and see if Phoebe knows anything. I'll stay here and try to scry for her." Leo orbed out. Not much after that, he orbed back in, looking puzzled.

            "Paige is at the manor, with Phoebe. I saw her myself. But I still can't sense her anywhere. And that's not possible."

            "Shit." Piper swore.

            "Do you know what's going on?" 

            "Cole must have the real Paige down in the underworld with him. Whoever you  saw at the manor must just be a fake. Which would explain why Paige has been acting odd lately. All right, you go get Phoebe, go down to the Underworld, and try to get Paige out.  I have an idea of a spell I can use that will let me help from here. I'll be more usefull that way… Cole can't play mind tricks on me, and I won't be an unwelcome distraction for Paige and Phoebe. Now hurry. We probably don't have much time." Once again, Leo orbed out.

            Down in the underworld, Cole laughed at Paige. He has been having fu with her in the past week…making her do everything he told her to. He hadn't made her kill anyone yet…he was waiting for just the right person to come along.

            "Come here Paige." He ordered belligerently. Staring at him with hate filled eyes, Paige rose and walked over to him. "You know that kill that I've been telling you that I was going to make you make?" Paige looked afraid. Cole was glad. He liked them afraid. "Well, you're prey's almost here. It's perfect to."

            "You bastard." Paige whispered.

            "Thanks. She should be here any minute now. I think you'll have fun with her. Who better for your first kill than Phoebe, your sister and my wife." Paige gasped. That wasn't exactly who she'd been expecting. 

            "You can't kill Phoebe. You still love her!"

            "Lov**_ed_**. I don't anymore. The evil in me is finally strong enough to conquer even that part of Cole. And I want her to pay for weakening me so much. Even if it is because of her that I became the Source… she was always holding me back, making me deny the evil inside me, the demon I really am. She'll be sorry. Especially as she dies at the hands of her own sister." Paige could do nothing but stare at him hatefully. If only she had listened to Piper in the beginning. Now, there was no way to escape this. All he had to do was say the words, and she would kill her own sister. And there was nothing she could do about it.  


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry it's been a few days, but I've been sick. Everyone who hasn't complained about the way I'm handling Cole, skip ahead to the story. Everyone who has, please read this.  Now, for all of you who sent me a review complaining about the way I'm doing Cole…I thought I made it clear in the beginning that I am _not_ doing another "Cole is pure evil story." He isn't pure evil. He's just possessed by the Source, who is strong enough to evercome him. Yes, _Cole_ loves Phoebe. The Source doesn't. The source is strong enough to control Cole, or at least his body. So the Source doesn't care if Phoebe dies. None of you complained that Paige would never kill Phoebe, because she loves her too much. I'm willing to bet that's because you understood that Paige had no control, she was completely under the control of the Source. Well, whoopdy do, so is Cole! So don't complain that he would never hurt Phoebe, because it's exactly the same principle! I tried to show in this chapter, since I obviously didn't make it clear enough in the last ones, that Cole is not to blame here. HE IS POSESSED. So seriously, stop complaining. Just relax. I know that you are entitled to your own opinions, and I respect that. But I am honestly not trying to make Cole purely evil. I really am trying to make a distinction between him and the Source. Maybe I haven't been doing it very well. If so, I'm sorry.  Please stick with the story. If you have any ideas for how I could handle it better, feel free to send them to me in reviews. And please finish the story. I promise that Cole is not pure evil. I promise. Now, on with the story!

Piper feverishly threw herbs into the pot, trying to make the potion as fast as she could. She felt horrible for not going with Leo and Phoebe to physically try and rescue Paige- but she honestly didn't think that she would be much help. For starters, her increasingly obvious pregnancy would definitely slow her down, make things more awkward. She also didn't know how well she could work around Phoebe, or Phoebe around her for that matter…and finally, there was the matter of Cole. Piper couldn't take the chance that she would freeze up when she saw him…no, not Cole, The Source, she mentally corrected herself. If she really meant to go through with the whole power-stripping thing, she really needed to start separating the two in her mind. This potion and spell should work well, allowing her to effectively help Paige form here. It should, if it worked properly, allow her to channel her power into Paige. She would also be able to see through her sister's eyes, and talk mind to mind with her. It was a combination of a few different spells and potions they had used in the past, along with some new stuff she had written that should work too. By doing this, Paige would be able to draw upon not only her own powers, but Piper's as well. That way, she should be strong enough to fight Cole. After putting the finishing touches on the potion, Piper sighed and drank it down, then read the spell. After a few seconds, she felt it take affect, as she slipped into a trance and slid into Paige's mind.

            Leo and Phoebe had vanquished the evil Paige clone, and were now on their way to the underworld. Phoebe had been reluctant to believe Leo, but she herself had been having doubts lately, so the least she could do was go check this out. Taking her hands, Leo orbed them to the underworld.

Paige shook as she watched the familiar blue lights appear. Phoebe was going to die- and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Instead, she was going to make it happen. Phoebe saw Paige standing there, with her husband smiling wickedly behind her, and her heart sank. IT was true. Oh god, it was all true. Luckily, her little sister didn't llok hurt, just scared. And…desperate maybe? Guilty? Phoebe wondered what for. 

            "Let her go Cole." She ordered. "Before I vanquish your sorry ass all the way to hell." Cole laughed.

            "But you can't do that Phoebe. You see, I'm the Source now, as you may have guessed, and to vanquish the Source you need the power of three. Which you don't have. You don't even really have the power of two, since Paige here is completely under my control." Cole tossed Paige a knife. "No go to work, my little servant. Kill her." Crying, Paige advanced forward with the knife.

            "No!" Phoebe cried, and lunged out of the way. "Paige stop! This isn't you!"

            "I can't!" Paige cried. "he's too strong for me. Oh god Phoebe, I'm so sorry." Paige dove at Phoebe with the knife, and barely missed as Phoebe rolled away. Just then, Paige heard a voice in her head. _Paige!_ The voice commanded. It sounded like Piper. _Paige, you have to listen to me. I know you think that you're not strong enough to fight this, but you are. I'll help you. Just concentrate on overcoming this, on throwing out his power form you. You can do it Paige._ Paige listened to the voice, and tried to do as it said. She could feel the effects of the spell in her, even see them visually if she closed her eyes. She could also feel new power surging into her, good power. Paige added it to her won as she fought off the dark influence inside of her. She continued to walk toward Phoebe, mechanically attacking her, even as she fought for control on the inside. Finally, Piper had fed her enough power. _Those are my powers Paige_. Piper said. _We're connected. Now picture the evil inside of you blowing up. We have to hurry. Phoebe's getting tired. We don't have much time._ Paige nodded, and visualized herself throwing up her hands like she had seen Piper do countless times before.  The evil shattered and Paige was in control of herself again. Realizing what had happened. Cole roared in anger. Paige rushed over to Phoebe, who was lying on the floor. To her horror, Paige realized that she had badly cut Phoebe's side. Phoebe flinched away as Paige knelt down beside her. Tears poured down Paige's face.

            "Oh god Phoebe, I'm so sorry, I couldn't help it…but it's okay now, I defeated it, I'm just going to heal you now." Phoebe's body slowly relaxed as Paige's healing power flowed into her, and the two hugged as she sat up. The process was made doubly fast by the easy access to Piper's powers that Paige still had. 

            "Phoebe." Paige said hurridly. "We don't have much time. I don't know how, but somehow I'm connected to Piper. So we do have the power of three. We need to vanquish him." Phoebe nodded numbly, then her eyes hardened. 

            "You're right." She said. "Let's go get him." Joining hands, the two faced Cole and began reciting the Source vanquishing spell.

            In her room, still attached to Paige, Piper belatedly relized what was going on.

"No!" She shouted. The thought resounded through Paige's mind, causing her to falter and stop chanting. Focusing more of her power into Paige, Piper began to talk through her sister.  

            "Get out of here now!" She shouted at Cole. "Go!" She felt Paige gather up her powers as the two began chanting again, and Piper ripped herself free, fainting on the floor of her living room as she came back into her own body.

Wondering at why Piper had decided to spare him, when a vanquish would have been so easy, Cole shrugged and flamed out. That was her problem. If she thought that it meant that he would leave them alone, then she was wrong. Very, very wrong.

            When Piper came to, she knew that she had to move fast. Considering how much power she had lent to Paige, she didn't have nearly enough to maintain the anit-scrying spell that she had been keeping up. Which meant that as soon as Leo orbed her sisters back up, they would be able to find her. And after her little display there, they would probably want to find her. Grabbing her car keys, Piper forced herself to get up and into her car, then drove to P3, trying not  to let her absolute exhaustion over come her. 

            Piper was only in the club for a few minutes when Leo orbed in with her sisters. Both looked hurt, confused, and unfortunately, angry. 

            "Why did you do that?" Phoebe demanded. "We had him right there. Now who knows what else he might do. Why on earth did you let him go?" Pier sighed, and rubbed her temples. She had hoped that after finding out the truth, things her and her sisters would magically be okay again. Obviously that was just wishfull thinking. Things had gone too far between them. It would never really be the same again.

            "Vanqishing him isn't the solution." She said softly. Leo came over and stood behind her, offering silent support. 

            "After everything he did to us?" Paige exclaimed. "Everything he did to you? How does he not deserve to be vanquished?"

            "Because Cole is still in there, somewhere, and by vanquishing the Source we'd be killing Cole too. He didn't do anything wrong. He became the Source- unknowingly- because he was trying to save our lives. The Source's evil was too much for him to fight, it overcame him. Cole is as much a victim here as any of the rest of us."

            "No he's not!" Paige cried.

            "Yes, he is." Piper whispered, filled with desperation. Things were no different then they had been. Once more, it seemed like her sisters would never believe her. 

            "Look," Phoebe said, "maybe you're right. Maybe it's not Cole's fault that he got turned into the Source, and maybe he wasn't in control when he did all of this horrible stuff. But there would have had to be a period of time right after the Source's powers entered him, when he knew what had happened, and was still strong enough to fight them. Why didn't he come to us then?" Piper shook her head.

            "I don't know Phoebe. I just…I don't know. What I do know is we can't blame him for what the Source did. We can't." 

            'Don't you want to hurt him for what he did to you?" Paige asked. "Why is this so important to you?"

            "Because it hits too close to home!" Piper exclaimed. "What happened to Cole…It's too similar to what happened to me. Here he is, getting blamed for something that another being made him do, and no one believes that he's innocent. I will not put another person through the same thing that I went through. I won't. It's..it's one of the worst feelings in the world. You can't make me inflict that on somebody else." Both Paige and Phoebe stared at her, guilt flooding to their faces. For the first time, they were beginning to realize just how much they had hurt their sister. It was something that she might never fully recover form. Piper saw the looks on their faces and sighed. 

            "Look," she said softly. "We all probably need time to think right now, to process what happened. I'm going to keep on staying where I've been for the past few weeks, you guys stay at the manor. We probably shouldn't see each other for a few weeks, at least until we're all thinking a little more clearly. Okay?" It was killing Piper to say this. There was nothing she wanted more in the world then to collapse into her sisters arms, and sob out all of her hurt and uncertainty, accept their comfort. But looking at them, she could tell that they weren't ready to provide that comfort yet. It was too soon for them. Better for every one involved doing it this way. No one protested. Leo knew how much this had to be hurting Piper, but he also knew that it was something she had to do. Pulling her close to him, he orbed out, leaving Paige and Phoebe staring after them. 


	12. Chapter 12

            Well, I know I just updated a few hours ago, but I also just realized that I don't have long to finish this story. I need to have it done by Christmas, since we're going away on vacation, and you probably don't want to wait a week and a half for more updates…so I'll try to finish asap. There's still pretty much to go though, so I hope that I can do it. Sorry if my last A/N sounded a little bitter…I hope I didn't scare anyone off. Lynx-thank you very much for your review. The one you sent me back in chapter three was one of the reasons I've been trying so hard to separate Cole and the Source, so I'm glad that you think it's working. Anyway, I hope all you guys like this chapter, but you'll all probably hate me by the end of it. Just remember before you start flaming me, there is more to come. So don't hate me too much. Read on, my faithful readers!

Back at the apartment, Piper sagged against Leo. She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

            "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her worriedly. Piper nodded.

            "I have to. They're not ready to give me what I need from them- so its better for all of us if we just stay apart right now. Leo nodded.

            "All right." He sighed, "But that doesn't mean I have to like it." Piper gave a little choked up laugh.

            "Don't worry. I don't either." Settling into his arms, Piper gave herself up to the sleep that had been threatening to claim her ever since she had finished the spell connecting her to Paige earlier that day.

            Piper awoke to find herself being flung across the room. Leo lay crumpled over in one corner, and Cole stood furiously in front of her.

            "Did you think that saving my life would spare those of the ones you love?" he spat. "Oh no missy, not after that stunt you pulled this morning. I had everyone right where I wanted them, and you just had to screw it up. Well guess what. It's pay back time. Cole whipped out an arrow from behind his back, an arrow that Piper knew only too well. Before she had time to process what was happening, Cole shot Leo three times with the bow and arrows. While the effects of the poison in one arrow would take a while before killing a whitelighter, three arrows at once was too much for Leo to handle. He was dead before he had even regained consciousness from his earlier fall. Piper rose, and stumbled toward him. 

            "Leo," she moaned, collapsing next to his body. 

            "I'm not done yet bitch! You're next!" Cole shot another arrow from the bow, this one hitting her directly in the stomach. She felt the stab of pain, followed by a withering feeling. Piper was numb. The baby. Oh god, he'd just killed the baby. 

            "Now for your sister. That little half whitelighter should respond quite well to this arrow here." Piper forced herself out of the fog that she was in. Grief could come later. If she didn't act fast, her sister was dead too. Lunging for the kitchen, Piper grabbed the power-stripping potion. Cole just stared at her indulgently. She was no threat to him. What could she possibly do? Before he had time to flame out, Piper flung the potion. It hit him hard, and exploded. For a moment, Cole screamed in agony and defeat, then fell onto his knees in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Cole looked up at Piper with horror filled eyes.

            "Oh god." He murmured. "What have I done?" Piper stared at him, unable to answer. 

            "Piper," he began, "I am so so sorry…it wasn't me, I…"

            "I know." Piper said softly. "That's why I didn't vanquish you earlier. But you have to leave Cole, I know this wasn't form you, but…" Piper broke off, her voice raw with emotion. 

            "There must be something that I can do…" 

            "No! Just go, please. I can't… look at you right now, even if my brain knows you're innocent." Cole looked defeated as he turned and walked toward the door.

            "I'm sorry." She whispered. 

            "No. It's my fault. All of this…it's my fault." Piper just shook her head, then turned to look at him.

            "Don't tell Phoebe or Paige about this. I don't want them to know. If you want to help then please, don't tell them." Cole didn't look happy about it, but he nodded his head.

            "Yeah." He said, and started to leave. Once he reached the doorway, he turned back.

            "Piper?"

            "Yes?" Piper choked out.

            "Thank you. If it weren't for you…well, thanks." Piper nodded, and Cole left, shutting the door behind him. Once she was sure that he was really gone, Piper shakily got to her feet. She couldn't cry. The shock was still too great. Instead, she walked over to the phone and dialed the number of P3. The bartender answered on the first ring.

            "Candice?" Piper was amazed at how steady her voice sounded, how normal. Inside, she felt like everything had completely fallen apart, but outside…nothing showed. She wondered if she looked as awful as she felt, then thought about how strange this whole train of thought was in general, to be having at this moment.

            "It's Piper." She continued. "Look, something's come up, and I'm going to have to go away on a long business trip. I'll be tacking a vacation onto the end, so it I'll be gone for quite awhile. A month." She wouldn't need that much time, but it was always better to err on the side of caution. "Yes, that's right. Anyway, I'll be leaving you in charge of the club while I'm gone. My sisters will probably check in every once in a while as well. All right. Well, thank you Candice. I will. Good bye." Piper hung up the phone, and her eyes fell on Leo's crumpled body on the floor. 

            "Soon." She whispered to him. "No one will think that anything's wrong for at least a month, so there's no way they can save me. I just have to get something." Piper grabbed a knife from off of the kitchen counter, and crossed over to where he lay. Sitting down next to him, Piper brought the knife to her wrists, and opened a deep cut in each one. She could feel her strength draining out of her, feel the pain dripping away. Settling down by Leo, she wrapped her arms around his body, closed her eyes, and let herself fall into the deep, comforting, blackness. 


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: See, I didn't make you wait long at all, now did I? I think I got twice as many revies for the last chapter than I have for any other one…did I shock you with that chapter. Oh well. I hope you liked it anyway. Anyway, there's another surprise this chapter, hopefully you'll like this one a little more…

Hanging up the phone, Paige swore softly. 

            "Well?" Phoebe asked. "Is she there?" Paige shook her head. 

            "Apparently she went away on a business trip. She'll be gone for at least a month. And she didn't leave a number with them or anything, so basically…"

            "We still have no way of finding her or contacting her." Phoebe finished. "Shit."

            "Yeah, I know. I just hope that she's okay. I know that she has Leo but…she looked really upset. Which I don't blame her for. We just never should have let her go." Phoebe came over and wrapped her arms around Paige.

            "We'll find her. We have to find her."

Prue stamped her foot and glared at the elders.

            "Frankly, I don't give a shit about your rules! My sister is down there, dying, and there is absolutely no chance of anyone finding her until its to late. Let me go to her damn it! She needs me!"

            "I'm afraid we can't do that." An elder replied. "Your place is up here now, not down there. We can't allow you to go down there."

            "So what? You're just going to sit up here and watch her die?! We don't have anymore half sisters anymore you know. If you let Piper die, then you lose the charmed ones forever. And all the good that they could still do."

            "I'm sorry. Even if we wanted to do this, we couldn't. Sending you back would raise to many questions. Your death was to well known. It wouldn't work."

            "Fine." Prue spat furiously. "I guess I'll be seeing my sister in a little while anyway, then. I hope she likes it up here." Prue turned to leave, and another elder spoke up. This one had seemed sympathetic to Prue's case all along, and hadn't been comfortable with the decision to just let Piper die. 

            "Wait." She said. "If its just a matter of her former identity being a problem…" The stuffy elder glared at her, and Prue glanced up with hope.

            "Yes?" she asked

            "We could send you back down with a different identity. It would be a sort of a spell, so that anyone who saw you wouldn't see how you really look, but instead, would see someone completely different. However, you would be able to selectively lift the spell so that Piper, or any one else who you choose, would see the real you, while others saw only the disguise."

            "Please." Prue begged, "cast the spell and let me go to her. She needs me so much right now, I can't just sit here and do nothing. Please let me help her." After a few minutes of arguing amongst themselves, the elders relented. 

            "Very well. You will go back with all of your former powers. We will teach you how to selectively lift the spell. We will be sending you down with a whitelighter to collect Leo's body. Good luck."

            "Thank you." Prue said gratefully, and went down with the whitelighter. 

            Seeing her little sister's crumpled body lying on the floor made Prue's heart break in two.

            "Oh Piper," she sighed, and hurried over to her grabbed the phone on the way over, dialing 911 as she knelt next to her sister. Piper was still breathing…barely. She couldn't hang on much longer. Prue could only hope that the ambulance would be there soon. She turned to the whitelighter that was taking Leo's body."

            "Please. I know that a lot has already been done for me… but is there any chance that you could heal her. I know its asking a lot, but…please?" The whitelighter looked compassionate, but shook her head. 

            "I'm sorry. I would if I could…honest. But it's not physically possible. When someone hurts himself or herself like this, trying to commit suicide, it is impossible for the whitlighter to heal them. The persons body simply won't allow it. You'll have to leave it up to the hospital now. I really am sorry.  I could try, if you like, but I don't think it would do any good." She knelt down, and held her hands over Piper's wrists. Nothing happened. Prue bit her lip, trying to hold back the flood of disappointment.

            "It's okay." She whispered. "Thank you for trying." The whitelighter nodded, and orbed away with Leo. A few moments later, Prue heard sirens roaring down the street. 

            "Hang on Piper." She whispered to her sister. "They're almost here. Everything's going to be all right, I promise it will be. I'm here now. Everything will be just fine. Cradling Piper's head in her lap, Prue waited. 

Wow, am I delusional or what. But I had to bring Prue back. I had to. Piper needs her. Anyway, I hope you liked it…at least it was more cheerful than the last chapter. The next chapter should be up soon. Review please!


	14. Chapter 14

            Prue paced the hall in the waiting room, as she waited for the doctors to let her go in and see Piper. The ambulance had brought her here about an hour ago, and things weren't looking so good. Piper had lost a lot of blood, and if Prue had been even two minutes later, there was no way that Piper would have made it. Even as it was, she was in really bad shape. The doctors were doing everything they could but…right now, things could go either way.

            "Excuse me?" A doctor's voice broke into Prue's chain of thought.

            "You're here with Piper Halliwell, correct?" Prue nodded.

            "Is she going to be okay? Can I see her now?" 

            "She should be fine. We stabilized her, and gave her a blood transfusion. Now she's just sleeping. You may go in and see her if you like."

            "Oh thank god." Prue breathed in relief. "Thank you doctor." Prue hurried of toward Pipers room. Entering, she felt like her breath had been knocked out of her. Piper looked so small and pale, lying in the hospital bed. There were big bandages around her wrists, and another one on her head. She had received a nasty cut there from when Cole had flung her across the room. There were tubes to help her breathe, and an IV was delivering nutrients into her system. The doctors had told Prue that Piper was dangerously undernourished, one of the reasons that she had been in so much danger. Her body was too weak to fight off the simplest things. If she caught a cold now, it could be deadly. Crossing over to the bed, Prue sat down in a chair, and took her sister's hand into her own. 

            "Oh honey. I am so so sorry about all of this. I wish I could have come down sooner…but they wouldn't let me. But I'm here now, and I promise, I will make everything okay again. You just concentrate on getting better. I don't know if you can hear me right now, but if you can, I need you to know that I love you very very much okay? Please come back to me Piper. Don't give in yet. Just…wake up. Come back to me." Prue continued to murmur quiet reassurances for another hour, until Piper finally began to stir.  Waking up, Piper thought that she was coming out of some kind of nightmare. In it, Cole had killed Leo and the baby, and then she had killed herself…suddenly realizing that she was in a hospital, Piper was filled with despair. So it wasn't a dream after all. But who had found her? She had made sure that no one would come looking for her…just then, Piper became aware of the person sitting next to her.

            "Prue?" she whispered. Piper didn't move a muscle, in fear that she was just delusional, and as soon as she moved Prue would disappear. 

            "Yeah honey, it's me. They finally let me come down. I knew how much you needed me right now, and I couldn't stand being up there watching you in so much pain. But I'm here now, okay? You're not alone. Just let it all go honey, please let me help you." Prue climbed onto the bed, and wrapped her arms around her little sister. 

            "Oh god, Prue…" and Piper began to cry. She hadn't really let herself go since any of this had started, not even to Leo. Finally, she started to let go of all the pain and anguish of the last few weeks, readying herself to begin the long process of healing. She didn't know what lay ahead of her. All she knew was that Prue was here, and it was finally okay just to let go. Prue held Piper as she cried, gently rocking her, and not saying anything. She didn't need to. All that mattered was that she was here, offering Piper the support and comfort she so desperately needed. 


	15. Chapter 15

I'm Back! I guess most of you know that from the prequel I finally started, but some of you might not be reading that. Anyway, I got a lot of complaints over how I ended the story. I'm really sorry guys. I really did mean for Piper to grieve a lot over losing her husband and daugher….but I was rushing to finish in time, so I sort of took if for granted that she did. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Anyway, I redid a lot of this chapter, so I hope that it shows a bit more of the grief that Piper is going through. I can't really show it all…the kind of pain that she went through is indescribable. But I did my best, and I hope you like this better. Just remember that she is still grieving in all of my stuff to come, I just might not always show it. She is never going to be completely "over" what happened. 

The doctors had made Piper stay in the hospital for a month and a half. They wanted her to stay longer, but Prue put her foot down. Since Piper was no okay by that point-well, physically ok, she was nowhere near being ok emotionally - the doctors had to agree. But anyone could see that Piper was not doing well emotionally. She didn't speak at all, Prue didn't think that Piper had said more than two words ever since she woke up and found her big sister sitting by her hospital bed. For the first three days, Piper had done nothing but cry, to the point where she was literally making herself sick. She couldn't stop. The pain of losing her husband and baby was too intense. Waking up and finding that she had not actually died, but was still alive to feel that pain, was one of the hardest things that had ever happened to Piper. Even with Prue there, Piper just didn't want to be alive. She wanted to be with her husband and baby, where she belonged. But Prue wouldn't let her die. After three days, Piper couldn't cry anymore. The pain hadn't lessened any, it was every bit as intense as it had been when she first realized that her husband and daughter were dead. But her body didn't have the strength to cry anymore. Piper wouldn't eat or sleep, and she was refusing to let herself heal from the injuries that she had given herself. The hospital was barely able to keep her going, it was almost like her body was fighting agaist itself. Piper wanted to die, and her body was trying to make that happen. Neither Prue, nor the doctors, however, were willing to give up, and a week later the medicine and protein they were giving her through Ivs finally began to take hold. Pipers body slowly began to heal, as much as she fought against it. Once she realized that there was nothing she could do to make herself die, Piper began the long process of healing emotionally from what she went through. It wasn't easy, and it didn't happen quickly. Years from now, the pain would probably be just about as bad as it was now. But she developed coping methods, ways to get by from day to day. Eventually, she would be able to act almost normally, without anyone noticing something was wrong. She would be able to get back a somewhat normal life, without showing people how much it was tearing her up inside to do so. For now, she wouldn't talk at all and spent the entire day leaning against Prue, soaking up strength from her big sister. The little sleep she got was gained only after hours of crying, until her her body was to tired to do anything other than sleep. The crying both worried and relieved Prue-she hated the fact that Piper was crying enough to make herself sick, but at the same time, at least Piper was letting out her emotions, and not keeping them all bottled up inside of her. Prue hated the fact that Piper couldn't talke to her…couldn't let some her emotions out that way. But Prue also was starting to realize that it was just Piper's way of dealing. There was so much for her to cope with right now, that talking would just…expend too much energy. Piper needed every ounce of energy she had just to force herself to keep breathing. Prue knew that as long as Piper knew that she was there for her, ready to listen whenever she wanted to talk, then her little sister would open up eventually. She just needed to wait until she was ready. Until then, Prue was perfectly willing to loan her little sister strength. Ever since Piper had first woken up, Prue had not once left her side. She spent every minute with her sister, offer support and comfort, giving her someone to lean against and draw strength from. _Just like Leo did in the beginning_. Piper thought bitterly. The daily talks with the hospital psychiatrist had been a struggle too, but in this case it was more Prue's problem than Piper's. Piper just flat out refused to deal with the woman, she wouldn't talk to her, wouldn't respond to, didn't even acknowledge her presence. Prue realized that it was just another defense mechanism on Piper's part- she couldn't deal with anyone other than Prue right now. But that wasn't the only reason that Piper shouldn't have the psychiatrist around. It just wouldn't be safe for Piper to risk opening up to the woman. Everything that had happened to Piper was tied up in the supernatural, there was no way she could talk about it and not reveal that. Prue had fought the hospital tooth and nail to keep the psychiatrist from seeing Piper, but as long as she was still in the hospital, the woman could keep coming. It was one of the reasons Prue worked so hard to get them to let her sister come home. And finally, they were letting her. Prue grabbed her sister's bag, and put her arm around Piper's shoulder. Piper leaned into her, as if even walking took more energy than she had right now.

"Come on honey." Prue whispered. "We're going home."

Once home, things began to go a little better. As the weeks progressed, Piper even began to talk some. Not about anything personal, no feelings, nothing about what had happened, but at least it was a start. Piper even called in to P3, telling them that she was tacking a little more vacation time onto the end of her trip, and wasn't sure when she would be back yet. She would try to do some work from here. That, at least, gave Prue as much time as she needed to help Piper through this, without being worried about Piper being reported missing or something. Piper still cried herself to sleep every night, and there were days when that was all that she would do. There were other days when Piper would revert to earlier habits and do nothing but lie in bed all day, refusing to notice or a acknowledge anything, including Prue. She couldn't stay at the apartment that Leo had died in…It just hurt to much. Instead, Prue had found a hotel that was willing to rent rooms on a long term basis, for a not too high price. It would have been nice if Piper had a more homey environment to stay in, but Prue couldn't find another apartment. The manor would have really been the best place, but there was no way that Piper would be able to see her sisters again anytime soon. That was another thing that had Prue worried. If Piper would just blame her sisters for what had happened, then she could be mad at them, forgive them, and move past it. But Piper couldn't blame them. Instead, she blamed herself, and Piper had never been good at forgiving herself. Prue was working hard to resolve that but….that was one thing that she seriously doubted she would get her way on. Piper refused to blame Paige and Phoebe for the way they had treated her. Nor would she blame Cole. A few more months went by, and Piper slowly began to act more like herself. She returned to work, forced herself to smile occasionally. But though Piper was starting to look more normal on the outside, she was still dying form pain inside. A true recovery wouldn't come for a long time yet, if ever. 

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

            Well, this is the last chapter. I had a lot more in mind, but I think that I'll save all of that for the sequel. This is already a lot longer than I thought it would be when I first started writing it. Anyway, about the sequel…as I'm sure most of you know, I am definitely doing a prequel. I won't be starting that until at least the fourth…I'm going away, and won't be able to work on it until then. That's why I had to rush so much to finish this one. Anyways, as I said, I will be doing a prequel and a sequel to this story. (Probably several sequels actually, but that's beside the point right now.) So should I just work on the sequel when I come back, and wait until I'm done with that before I start the prequel? That would mean a new chapter for the prequel almost everyday. Or, should I work on both stories at the same time? That way, you'd still get a chapter everyday, but it would be for alternating stories. One day you'd get a prequel update, the next day you'd get a sequel update…you get the idea. Anyway, send me what you think, and I'll decide what to do when come back. Read and review, and I hope you liked the story! I can't believe it's over!   

A month and a half later, Piper was almost back to normal. She had finally truly confided in Prue about three weeks ago, and since then, things were going much better. She was talking normally, and starting to eat more, although she could still definitely stand to gain a few more pounds. She had lost twenty pounds since this whole ordeal had started, and looked pretty much like a wraith of her former self, especially considering that by now, she was supposed to be well into her pregnancy. Thankfully, she at least looked much better than she had even a month ago. She was starting to smile more too. Her smiles, though very rare, were at least real, not fake ones put on for Prue's benefit. And she had even laughed once, though the laugh had a sound in it that had never been in there before, and would never be absent from it again. Piper had even gone back to work a week ago,much to the delight of her entire staff. Piper was touched to hear that they had been very worried about her, especially when they saw how she looked. Piper had not yet, however, seen or talked to Paige or Phoebe. She knew she would have to at some point, she just didn't think that she was ready yet. Sofia, who worked for Piper, had promised Paige and Phoebe that she would let them know as soon as Piper came back to work, but when Piper had asked for a little more time, Sofia had taken one look at Piper's face and instantly agreed. That time, however, was almost up.  Piper sighed as she looked around the busy club. Business was booming, and the club was filled. Glancing up, she noticed Prue making her way toward her.

            "Hey," Prue said, "it looks good tonight. A lot of people are here."

            "Yeah." Piper said, and sighed again.

            "Something bothering you?" Piper shook her head and Prue raised her eyebrows.

            "If you honestly think that I am going to believe that, then you have another thought coming. So come on. What's up?" Piper gave a little half laugh. She should have known that she couldn't fool Prue. Prue had been able to read her like a book even before all of this, and now she was even more in tune to Piper's emotions."

            "Sofia said that Paige and Phoebe have been getting more and more insistent on when I'm coming back. She said that they used to drop by a lot while I was gone, and it won't be long before they do so now, and find out, surprise, I'm here."

            "You're not ready to see them." Prue stated.

            "I don't know." Piper sighed. "A part of me wants to see them more than anything else in the world…well, almost anything…. but another part of me just doesn't think I'm ready. It was so hard to get to where I am now, I don't know if I want to risk going back under again. And I know that waiting so long isn't fair to you. You're dying to see Phoebe again, so don't bother telling me you're not. And I know that you really want to meet Paige. You should get to do so." Prue shook her head. 

            "Yes, I may want to see them." She said. "But you come first. I came down here to take care of you, not to see them. So that can wait until you are sure that you are ready. I want you to get better even more than I want to see them." Piper smiled.

            "Really? You don't hate me for making you wait?" 

            "Really. And of course I don't hate you. I never could." Piper hugged her sister.

            "Thanks Prue. I don't know what would have happened to me if they hadn't let you come back down to me. Although something tells me that I would have been seeing you anyway." Prue shivered, realizing what her sister meant.

            "Don't say that Piper. Don't even think it."

            "Did Sofia say that Piper was back yet?" Paige asked, following Phoebe into the club.

            "No. But we might as well come anyways. It's not like we have anything better to do. And hey, maybe she just arrived now."

            "I think that's what they call wishful thinking." Paige remarked. 

            "Yeah, I know. But we need her back, Paige, we need…" suddenly, Phoebe gasped.

            "Oh god. There she is." Paige looked, and saw Piper standing over by the bar, talking to an unfamiliar blond woman. 

            "She looks horrible." Paige whispered, her eyes filling up. "Shouldn't she be fairly far along in her pregnancy by now?"

            "She must have lost it. We should have been there for her, Paige. We should have known…" Just then, Piper glanced up. Her eyes caught Phoebe's across the club, and Piper froze. She looked, terrified, like a trapped animal or something. At the same time, she looked almost hopeful, longing. Concerned, the blond looked their way to see what had caught Piper's attention. When she saw Paige and Phoebe, she froze as well. This puzzled Phoebe. The woman was staring at them with such intense longing; it looked like she knew them. But Phoebe had never seen the woman before in her life. Paige nudged her. 

            "Who's that other woman?"

            "I have no idea." Phoebe murmured.

            "Really? She sure looks like she knows you…although, she almost looks the same about me, and I've never seen her before either." Just then, the woman tore her gaze away from Paige and Phoebe, and lay her arm on Piper's shoulder. Piper turned away as well, equally reluctantly. The woman now had both hands on Piper's shoulders, forcing her to look at her. The two were talking, and Piper was biting her lip, looking like she was about to cry. Piper nodded, and took a deep breath. She smiled at the woman, and squared her shoulders. It looked as thought the woman had given Piper a pep talk, preparing her to meet Paige and Phoebe.

            "Something about her seems familiar…something I can't quite put my finger on." Oh well. Shall we go down to them?" Paige nodded. 

            "I think its way past time we talked to our sister." 

            Prue laid her hand on Piper's shoulders, forcing Piper to look at her.

            "Hey." She said. "Are you okay?" Piper sighed. 

            "I don't know. I little shaken up…I wasn't expecting to see them now. I just hope I'm ready for this. And you?" Prue smiled. "I'm fine. A little shaken up as well…it's been so long. They look good." Piper nodded.

            "Yeah. They do. Can they recognize you? Or, rather, can Phoebe? Paige has seen pictures, but that's it…" Prue shook her head. 

            "No, I just look like the same blond woman that everyone except for you sees. I don't think I'll reveal myself to them for a while yet. You guys need to get back on track first." 

            "Somehow I thought that you'd say that." Prue squeezed her shoulders.

            "You'll do fine. They both really love you, and have been really worried. You could see it in their eyes when they saw you." Piper nodded, and bit her lip.

            "I hope you're right. If they reject me…I don't think I can get through it again."

            "They won't." Prue said firmly. Piper took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and forced herself to smile. _Here they come_. She thought. _I hope I'm ready for this_. 

            A few seconds later, Paige and Phoebe had arrived where Piper and Prue were standing. 

            "Piper…hey." Paige greeted. 

            "You're back." Phoebe said. Both seemed a little uncomfortable. They wanted to hug her, but weren't really sure how to act around her. Piper also wouldn't make the first move, scared that they didn't actually want to see her. 

            "Yeah," she said, "I am." Piper turned to Paige. 

            "How have you been?" she asked. "Are you okay? I should have been there for you after you escaped but I…" Paige seemed surprised.

            "Me? I'm fine. Really. Don't worry about me." Piper turned to Phoebe.

            "What about you? This has to have been hard on you, and I just ran out…"

            "Piper stop it." Phoebe said. "We're not the one's you need to worry about. You got hurt the most, and I just…"

            "Don't." Piper pleaded. "Not yet, anyway." They nodded, and Prue squeezed her hand. Smiling at her, Piper turned back to Paige and Phoebe.

            "I want you to meet someone. This is Prue…"

            "…nella." Prue broke in. "Prunella. But you can just call me Pru for short." Both girst winced slightly at the name, and glanced at Piper quizzically. Paige opened her mouth to say something, then changed her mind and closed it again. 

            "Look Piper," Phoebe began, "I know that you just got back, and its kind of sudden, but…we want you to move back into the manor with us. I know it may be a lot for you to handle right now, but we need you there. We've missed you more than you can possibly know, and you belong there. Please say you'll come." Piper turned very pale, and there was a roaring noise in her ears. She couldn't do that…could she? She wanted to, but was she ready" Prue, sensing Piper's problem, looked at Paige and Phoebe.

            "Could you give us a moment?" After they nodded, she took Piper's arm and led her a few feet away. Piper was confused, and terrified. Falling back on classic methods of dealing, she shut out everything but Prue, so that her sister was the only thing she was aware of at that moment.

            "Do you want to do this?" Prue asked.

            "I can't." Piper whimpered.

            "Forget about what you think you can and can't do. Do you want to?" Slowly, Piper nodded.

            "Then go for it. I'll go with you…you won't be going into this alone. You need to talk with them Piper, and I think you're ready. You're not going to get any better until you open yourself up to them.

            "I know." Piper whispered. "But what if I'm not ready? Who knows how far this could set me back…."

            "You are ready. But you'll never know that for sure until you give it a chance. Come on Piper. If you didn't want this, I wouldn't push it. But you do want to, your eyes are telling me just how much you want to. Come on Piper. Please?" Finally, Piper nodded. 

            "All right. But only if they let you come to. Are you going to have to tell them who you really are?"

            "I don't think so. I don't want to…not yet anyway. Like I said earlier, I want to get you all settled first. Just tell them that I'm a friend of yours, who just happens to be a witch as well." Prue and Piper walked back over to where Paige and Phoebe were standing.

            "Prue…she's a witch too. She's helped me a lot these past few months. More than you can imagine. Can she come stay at the manor too?" Phoebe nodded.

            "Sure honey. Whatever you want." Piper smiled.

            "Then I would love to move back into the manor." It would be hard. Piper knew that. But she needed her sisters, and it was time for them to work things out between them. They needed to rebuild their bonds of trust. 


	17. hello all

Hello readers! This is just a little note to inform you that I am currently sort of re-doing this story, Trust. Same plot and all, just hopefully better writing, and maybe a few new details that would help the whole sisters-not-believing-in-Piper-thing be more believable. Or at least, that is my hope. Um, I don't think that when you change chapters it counts as an update, so you just have to kind of randomly check to see if I've done a new chapter. (Or if you really wanted, each time I changed a chap I could add a little chapter at the end that said "update!" just so it could pop up on the new page. Let me know if that would appeal to you).

So far I have just done chapter one, but others will soon follow (if I don't flake out). Hope you enjoy!

Starring Piper (who has had extreme difficulties writing since her muse left her and she stopped being motivated. Muse, I don't think you'll ever read this, but if you do, I still think of you).


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